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PRINCETON,     N.     J. 


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CHRONICLES 

OF 


MONROE 

IN  THE  OLDEN  TIME 

TOWN  AND  VILLAGE 

ORANGE  COUNTY 

NEW  YORK 


BY 

KEY.  DANIEL  NILES  FREELAND 


NEW  YORK 

THE   DE  VINNE  PRESS 

1898 


Copyright,  1898,  by 
Daniel  Niles  F  reel  and. 


a^p  totmtt  tielobcti  pari^ljioner^  of 

a^ontoc,  l^etD  foirfe, 

anti  manp  otljer  hinti  fticnb^  of  tlje  toton  anb  biilage  of 

tl^at  name,  hot^  libing  anti  beats, 

i^  tJji^  modest  boluitie 

2Debicatcb, 

Ji(  «s  a  ^o/(;e^  of  grateful  appreciation  of  many  kindnesses 
received  hy  both  me  and  mine,  and  intended  to  preserve, 
for  the  entertainment  and  instruction  of  their  children, 
the  memory  of  the  history,  incidents  and  sayings  of  by- 
gone age  and  generation.  When  I  came  to  Monroe  fifty 
years  since,  I  found  then  living  many  venerable  people, 
remarkable  for  intelligence  and  clearness  of  memory,  their 
range  of  vision  extending  almost  to  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Finding  also  I  was  standing  on  historic  ground, 
the  thought  entered  my  mind  to  gather  up  some  of  the 
conversations  and  experiences  of  these  aged  ones  before 
they  should  be  called  to  the  land  ^^from  whose  bourn  no 
traveller  returns.''''  From  their  lips  much  of  the  mate- 
rial was  gathered.  It  was  first  a  lecture,  the  very  ink 
of  which  had  almost  faded  out.  But  an  urgent  request 
la 


having  come  from  many  sources  that  the  material  might 
have  more  permanent  form^  I  have  consented  to  give  it 
to  the  many-fingered  printing-press  ;  and  although '"'' of 
snaking  many  hooks  there  is  no  end^^  I  ash  the  indul- 
gent attention  of  those  more  partictdarly  interested  in 
stich  a  work.  For  more  recent  material  I  have  been  in- 
debted to  a  number  of  living  friends,  to  tvhom  I  tender 
most  hearty  thanks.  In  my  personal  reminiscences  I 
have  studiously  avoided  intrusion  into  the  sanctities  of 
private  life  ;  if  alluding  to  faults,  only  presenting  them 
as  a  background  to  virtues  ;  if  mentioning  humorous  in- 
cidents, they  are  thrown  in  as  a  pungent  spicery  to  make 
the  menu   more  palatable,   and  playfully  present  the 

features  of  the  Ancient  Past. 

THE  ATJTHOE. 


CONTENTS. 

Dedication. 
Introduction. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.  The  Cheesecock  Patent 1 

II.  The  Field  Book  and  Survey 11 

HI.  Distribution  of  the  Lands.    Maps  of  Lots  .  17 

IV.  Indians  and  Indian  Nomenclature 20 

V.  Physical  Features 25 

VI.  Organization   of  the  County  of  Orange  and 

Town  of  Monroe 33 

VII.  The  Early  Settlement  of  the  Town  ....  38 

VIII.  War  of  the  Revolution 44 

IX.  The  Story  of  Claudius  Smith 56 

X.  The  Dawn  of  Peace 63 

XI.  Home-building  in  the  Olden  Time 66 

XII.  The  Iron  Industry  of  Monroe 74 

XIII.  The  Milk  Business 78 

XIV.  Industries  of  the  Home  and  Farm 81 

XV.  The  Dress  of  the  Olden  Time 91 

XVI.  Courtship  and  Marriage 96 

XVII.  Mills  and  Smithy 100 

XVIII.  Innkeeping      106 

XIX.  Merchandizing 110 

XX.  Schools  and  Education 116 

XXI.  Physic  and  Physicians 125 

vii 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

XXII.  Lawyeks  and  Litigation 132 

XXIII.  Chueches  and  Clergy 137 

XXIV.  The  Cause  of  Temperance 156 

XXV.  Hunting  and  Fishing 160 

XXVI.  Militia  Training 169 

xxvii.  The  Singing  School „ 172 

XXVIII.  The  Debating  Society 177 

XXIX.  Love  of  Liberty  and  Patriotism 180 

XXX.  Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic  .  184 

XXXI.  Early  Roads 215 

XXXII.  Erie  Railway 219 

XXXIII.  Appearance  of  the  Old  Village 229 

xxxiv.  Landmarks  of  Monroe 237 

XXXV.  Recent  Occurrences   .       243 


vili 


INTEODUCTION. 

XT"  A  YIN  Gr  noticed  that  other  parts  of  the  county 
J-J-  of  Orange  have  received  marked  attention,  and 
had  their  historians  and  investigators,  while  the  town 
and  village  of  Monroe  seem  to  have  heen  passed  by, 
we  have  thought  it  would  he  of  interest  and  some- 
what of  the  nature  of  a  return  for  hospitalities  re- 
ceived in  said  town,  to  investigate  its  early  records 
and  traditions  and  throw  them  into  the  form  of  a 
historic  monograph  for  future  preservation  and  study. 
The  importance  of  this  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
the  old  people  are  rapidly  passing  away,  and  unless 
some  one  should  volunteer  to  gather  up  what  they 
remember,  they  soon  will  have  been  gathered  to  the 
grave,  "where  there  is  no  device  nor  knowledge." 
After  a  few  years  the  opportunity  will  have  gone 
irrecoverably.  He,  therefore,  who  has  been  cotem- 
porary  with  some  of  these  aged  ones  is  conferring  a 
favor  on  the  future  in  obtaining  their  reminiscences 
and  giving  them  permanent  form.  The  fact  that  so 
much  must  be  derived  from  tradition,  and  that  the 
historical  documents  and  data  are  so  meager  and  scat- 


tered,  makes  the  task  no  easy  one.  When  others  have 
preceded  us,  they  have  chosen  to  dwell  upon  the  mis- 
deeds of  its  famous  marauder,  rather  than  upon  the 
achievements  of  its  better  citizens ;  and  the  rudeness 
of  its  early  population ;  and  its  rocks  rather  than  its 
progress  in  wealth,  cultiu*e  and  all  the  elements  of 
modern  life.  So  they  have  conveyed  a  false  impres- 
sion of  its  character  and  resources,  until,  indeed, 
some  of  its  own  people  have  been  inchned,  in  view  of 
our  contemplated  task,  to  say,  "  Can  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Monroe  ?  "  Our  answer  is  of  old,  "  Come 
and  see."  We  purpose  now  to  take  compass,  chain  and 
knapsack,  and  endeavor  to  find  some  of  the  ancient 
landmarks,  run  some  of  the  old  courses  and  gather 
up  such  information  concerning  Monroe  as  will  tend 
to  reproduce,  for  the  instruction  of  the  present  genera- 
tion, its  topography,  its  ancient  manners  and  such 
historical  incidents  as  will  exhibit  its  progress  to  the 
present  day. 

When  the  first  survey  was  made,  Charles  Clinton 
noted  in  his  Field  Book  that  the  needle  pointed  to  the 
wealth  of  minerals  which  its  very  rocks  contained. 
So  its  wealth,  historical,  archaeological,  social,  ethical 
and  religious,  attracts  the  needle  of  our  affection,  ex- 
citing our  interest  and  study  after  years  of  absence. 
And  now  we  propose  as  a  labor  of  love  to  take  com- 
pass and  chain,  and  revisit  the  Highlands  and  Valleys, 
or  Cloves  as  they  were  called,  reviving  personal  remi- 
niscences, verifying  historical  incidents  and  bringing 
to  record  the  results  of  some  original  investigations. 


CHRONICLES   OF 
MONROE  IN   THE   OLDEN   TIME. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE   CHEESECOCK  PATENT. 


WHEN  King  John  demanded  of  certain  nobles  of 
England  by  what  authority  they  held  theii'  lands, 
they  laid  their  hands  on  the  hilts  of  their  swords. 
But  when  any  old  settler  of  the  town  of  Monroe  was 
asked  a  similar  question,  he  answered  as  promptly, 
and  with  as  much  of  right,  "  By  the  grant  of  Queen 
Anne,  in  the  document  called  the  Cheesecock 
Patent."  But  if  questioned  further  as  to  the  reason 
for  the  name,  and  who  procured  the  Patent,  and 
when  and  how  the  lands  were  surveyed  and  dis- 
tributed, he  could  give  little  information.  When  we 
asked  the  question  fifty  years  ago,  Why  is  so  singular 
a  name  given  to  that  instrument  ?  we  were  told  a  cer- 
tain English  Lord  Cheesecock  was  active  in  its  pro- 
curement. But  in  looking  over  books  of  heraldry  and 
English  history,  we  could  find  no  such  name,  either 
among  the  nobility  or  the  common  people.  We 
then  tried  to  solve  the  mystery  by  connecting  it  with 
some  dairy  product  or  cheese  cook  or  expert,  but  it 
failed  to  furnish  a  solution.     Then  we  fancied  that 


2  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

the  lay  of  the  land  might  afford  a  clue,  in  the  frequent 
occurrence  of  rounded  knolls  like  Woodcock,  Pedlar 
and  numerous  similar  formations  in  this  region,  which 
might  be  likened  to  haycocks  or  even  rolls  of  cheese. 
But  that  required  too  much  imagination  for  the  mat- 
ter-of-fact people  who  were  trying  to  find  a  home  in 
the  wilderness  where  they  could  have  hberty  to  wor- 
ship God  and  found  a  new  commonwealth.  We  then 
turned  to  the  document  itself,  and  found  that  it  grants 
a  certain  tract  of  upland  and  meadow.  Now  in  the 
Algonquin  tongue  the  name  for  upland  was  Chis^  up — 
limik^  land,  and  there  it  is  the  Highland  Patent. 
The  term  "  patent "  or  "  letters  patent "  was  applied  to 
a  document  issued  by  an  authorized  party,  granting 
an  exclusive  right  to  a  tract  of  land  or  other  property 
for  a  term  of  years.  The  sovereigns  of  England  were 
accustomed  to  issue  such  letters  patent  to  favorites 
and  friends,  parceling  out  and  conferring  the  lands 
the  government  had  acquired  on  this  continent,  as  if 
feudal  lords  of  the  soil.  As  these  lands  were  imper- 
fectly surveyed  and  were  acquired  some  from  the  In- 
dians and  some  from  the  Dutch  government,  it  is  not 
strange  that  there  should  be  confusion  in  the  boun- 
daries and  conflict  in  the  grants.  This  very  patent 
to  which  we  refer  was  the  occasion  of  no  small  liti- 
gation, while  the  grant  on  the  northeast  of  it,  the  Cap- 
tain Evans  patent,  had  to  be  recalled. 

During  the  governorship  of  the  colony  of  New 
York  by  Edward  Hyde,  under  the  title  of  Lord  Corn- 
bury,  his  rapacity  and  prodigality  led  him  to  give  out 
the  public  domain  with  a  lavish  hand.  It  was  through 
him,  and  probably  at  his  instance,  that  the  Cheesecock 
Patent  was  granted  by  Queen  Anne.  A  copy  of  it  is 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  New 


The  Cheesecock  Patent.  3 

York,  in  the  Book  of  Patents  begun  a.  d.  1695,  folio 
353-355,  recorded  at  the  request  of  Wilham  Smith 
and  Co.,  the  2d  day  of  June,  a.  d.  1736. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  that  remarkable  docu- 
ment —  a  facsimile  of  its  abbreviations,  capitals  and 
other  peculiarities : 

Anne  by  the  Grace  of  England,  Scotland,  ffrance  and  Ireland 
Queen  Defend''  of  the  faith  &c.  To  all  to  whom  these  Presents 
may  in  any  wise  Concerne  Sendeth  Greeting,  Whereas  our  Loving 
Subjects  Anne  Bridges,  Hendrick  Ten  Eyck,  Dirick  Vandenburg, 
John  Cholwell,  Christopher  Denne,  Lancaster  Symes  and  John 
Merritt,  by  their  humble  petition  Prsented  to  our  Right,  trusty 
and  well  beloved  Cousin  Edward  Viscount  Cornbury,  Captain 
General  and  Governour  in  Cheif  in  and  over  our  Province  of  New 
Yorke  and  Territories  Depending  thereon  in  America  and  Vice 
Admiral  of  the  same  &c.  in  Council  Have  Pray'd  our  Grant  and 
Confirmation  of  a  Certain  Tract  of  upLand  and  Meadow  Scituate 
Lying  and  being  in  the  County  of  Orange  Called  Cheesecocks  be 
Bounded  to  the  Northward  by  the  Patented  Lands  of  Captain 
John  Evans  and  the  Patent  of  Doctor  Bridges  and  Company  to 
the  Westward :  by  the  said  Bridges  &c^  and  the  West  side  of  the 
high  hills,  called  the  high  Lands  to  the  Southward  by  the  Patented 
lands  of  Mr.  Daniell  Honan  and  Michaell  Howden  and  to  the  East- 
ward by  the  Christian  Patented  Lands  of  Haverstraw  and  Hud- 
son's River  the  which  Petition  wee  being  minded  to  Grant  KNOW 
YEE  that  of  our  Especiall  Grace  Certain  Knowledge  and  meer  mo- 
tion wee  have  Given  Granted  Ratified  and  Confirmed  and  in  and 
by  these  P'sents  for  ourselves  our  Heires  and  Successors  Doe  Give 
Grant  Ratify  and  Confirm  unto  the  sd  Anne  Bridges,  Hendrick 
Tenicke,  Dirick  Vandenburg,  John  Cholwell,  Christopher  Denne, 
Lancaster  Symes  and  John  Merritt  all  and  Singular  the  Tract  of 
Upland  and  Meadow  above  mentioned  and  all  and  Singular  the 
Hereditaments  and  Appurtenances  thereunto  belonging  within 
the  Bounds  and  Limitts  above  in  these  presents  mentioned  and 
Expressed  together  with  all  woods  and  under  woods  Trees  Timber 
feedings  Pastures  Meadows  Marshes  Swamps  Ponds  Pooles  Waters 
Watercourses  Rivers  Rivoletts  Runs  and  Streams  of  Water  ffishing 
fouling  hunting  hawking  Mines  and  Mineralls  Standing  growing 
lyeing  and  being  or  to  be  used  had  and  enjoyed  within  the  Bounds 


4  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

and  Limmitts  aforesd.  and  all  other  Profitts  benefitts  Privledges 
Liberty s  Advantages  Hereditaments  &  Appurtenances  whatsoever 
unto  sd.  Land  and  Premises  or  any  Part  or  Parceil  thereof  belong- 
ing or  in  any  wise  appertaining  in  Seven  Equal  Parts  to  be  Divided 
(Except  allways  and  Reserved  out  of  this  our  Present  Grant  all 
Gold  and  Silver  mines.) 

To  Have  and  to  hold  One  seventh  part  of  the  Tract  of  Land  and 
premises  aforesaid  with  the  Appurtenances  hereby  Granted  or 
meant  mentioned  or  intended  to  be  hereby  Granted  as  aforesaid 
unto  the  sd.  Anne  Bridges  her  Heires  and  Assigns  forever  to  the 
only  proper  use  and  behoof  of  the  sd.  Anne  Bridges  her  Heires 
and  Assigns  forever  one  other  Seaventh  part  thereof  to  the  sd. 
Hendrick  Tenicke  his  Heires  and  Assigns  forever  to  the  only 
proper  use  and  behoof  of  the  sd.  Hendrick  Tenicke  his  Heires  and 
assigns  forever  one  other  Seaventh  Part  thereof  unto  the  sd  Dirick 
Van  den  burgh  his  Heires  and  assigns  for  Ever  to  the  only  Proper 
use  and  behoof  of  the  said  Dirick  Vandenburgh  his  Heires  and 
assigns  forever  one  other  Seaventh  Part  thereof  unto  the  sd  John 
Choi  well  his  Heires  and  assigns  forever  to  the  only  proper  use  and 
behoof  of  the  sd  John  Cholwell  his  Heires  and  assigns  forever  one 
other  Seaventh  Part  thereof  unto  the  sd  Christopher  Denne  his 
Heires  and  assigns  forever  to  the  only  Proper  use  and  behoof  of 
the  sd  Christopher  Denne  his  Heires  and  assigns  for  Ever  one 
other  Seaventh  Part  thereof  unto  the  sd  Lancaster  Symes  his 
Heires  and  assigns  for  ever  to  the  only  proper  use  and  behoof  of 
the  sd  Lancaster  Symes  his  Heires  and  assigns  forever  and  one 
other  Seaventh  part  thereof  unto  the  sd  John  Merritt  his  Heires 
and  Assigns  forever  to  the  only  proper  use  and  behoof  of  the  sd 
John  Merritt  his  Heires  and  Assigns  forever  (Except  as  is  herein 
before  Excepted)  TO  BE  HOLDEN  of  us  our  Heires  and  Suc- 
cessors in  free  and  comon  Soccage  as  of  our  Mannor  of  east  Green- 
wich in  the  County  of  Kent  within  our  Kingdome  of  England 
Yeilding  and  Paying  therefore  Yearly  and  every  year  frome  hence- 
forth unto  us  our  Heires  and  Succsso"  at  our  Custome  house  at 
New  Yorke  to  our  Collector  upon  the  feast  day  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  (Commonly  Called  Lady  Day) 
the  Rent  or  Sume  of  twenty  ShiUiugs  Currant  Money  of  our 
Provincee  of  New  York  Provided  always  and  these  p'sents  are 
upon  this  Condition  that  if  no  Improvement  be  already  had  or 
made  upon  the  sd  Land  and  p'misses  hereby  Granted  nor  any  Part 
or  Parceil  thereof  that  then  and  in  such  case  they  the  sd  Anne 


Tlie  Cheesecock  Patent.  5 

Bridges  Hendrick  Tenicke  Dirick  Vandenburgh  John  Cholw'^ 
Christopher  Denne  Lancaster  Symes  and  John  Merritt  theire 
Heires  and  Assigns  some  or  one  of  them  shall  within  the  time  and 
Space  of  three  Years  now  next  following  from  and  after  the  Date 
hereof  Settle  Clear  &  make  Improvement  of  and  upon  the  sd 
Lands  and  Premisses  hereby  Granted  or  of  and  upon  some  part  or 
parcel  thereof  in  Testimony  whereof  we  have  Caused  these  our 
Letters  to  be  made  Patents  and  the  scale  of  our  Province  of  New 
York  to  our  sd  Letters  Patents  to  be  Affixed  and  the  same  to  be 
Recorded  in  our  Secretarys  Office  of  our  sd  Province  Wittnesse 
our  Right  Trusty  and  welbeloved  Cousin  Edward  Viscount  Corn- 
bury  our  Captain  Generall  and  Grovernour  in  Cheif  in  and  over 
our  sd  Province  of  New  Yorke  and  Territorryes  Depending  thereon 
in  America  and  Vice  Admirall  of  the  same  &c  in  Council  at  our 
Fort  in  New  Yorke  the  twenty-fifth  Day  of  March  in  the  Sixt 
Yeare  of  our  Reigns  Annoq  Dm  1707 

Geo  Clarke. 

I  do  hereby  Certify  the  foregoing  to  be  a  true  Copy  of  the 
Original  Record  Compared  there  with  By  me 

Lewis  A  Scott  Secretary. 

The  only  terms  in  the  document  that  need  explana- 
tion are  "free  and  common  socage."  Socage,  we 
learn,  was  a  legal  term  derived  from  the  feudal  system. 
It  was  the  fee  or  consideration  upon  the  rendering  of 
which  rights  and  privileges  in  land  were  granted. 
There  were  two  kinds  of  socage — free,  or  common,  and 
villein.  The  former  was  a  certain  fee  in  money  or 
honorable  service ;  the  latter  a  certain  service  that 
might  be  base  or  menial.  The  socage  of  the  Cheese- 
cock  letters  patent  was  twenty  shillings  current 
money,  to  be  paid  yearly  as  prescribed.  A  manorial 
grant  hke  that  at  Pelham  Manor  to  Lord  Pell  was 
without  socage,  making  him  lord  of  the  manor  with 
absolute  control.  The  heirs  of  the  old  Cheesecock 
patent,  if  not  originally,  yet  soon  afterward,  became 
lords  of  the  soil  by  the  right  not  merely  of  pick  and 
shovel,  but  of  their  good  rifles  and  swords. 


6  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

The  original  of  this  patent  cannot  at  present  be 
traced.  It  is  in  possession  either  of  some  of  the 
heirs,  or  may  be  among  the  records  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery,  where  so  many  of  its  disputed  points  had 
to  be  settled.  It  must  have  contained  the  signatures 
of  the  Indians  from  whom  the  land  at  first  had  to  be 
purchased.  The  late  Peter  Townsend  stated  that  he 
saw  the  original,  and  that  the  Indian  signatures  were 
attached  to  it,  with  their  totems.     They  were  these  : 

Meeingomack,  his  O  mark. 
Sqawgus  Ugh  qiad,  her  4  mark. 
Tephanick,  his   'mark. 
Onickotop,  his  >^  ^  mark. 
Ajoaqueae,  his  /  -/  mark. 

These  appear  on  a  copy  in  possession  of  G.  R. 
Conklin,  who  has  it  in  deeds  of  lots  2  and  5  of  the 
Cheesecock  Patent. 

Now  there  was  also  a  seal  attached  to  the  patent. 
The  old  seal  of  Wilham  and  Mary,  according  to  cus- 
tom, had  been  defaced  and  a  new  seal  brought  out  to 
the  Grovernor  of  the  Province  of  New  York  by  Colonel 
Nott  of  Virginia,  in  1705.  This  seal  is  that  of  Queen 
Anne.  A  copy  of  it  has  been  furnished  us,  by  the 
courtesy  of  William  Cowie,  counselor  in  things  ar- 
tistic, and  a  drawing*  executed  by  the  American  Bank 
Note  Company  is  given  in  this  volume. 

*  See  title-page. 


The  Cheesecock  Patent.  7 

The  reverse  is  inscribed:  Anna  Dei.  Gra.  Mag. 
Brit.  Fran,  et  Hib.  Regina,  Fid.  Defen.  Nov.  Eb.  Sig. 
(Anna,  by  the  grace  of  Grod,  of  Grreat  Britain,  France 
and  Ireland,  Queen,  Defender  of  the  Faith.  Seal  of 
the  province  of  New  York.)  On  the  obverse  are  the 
arms  of  the  Stuarts  —  namely,  the  usual  insignia  of 
Great  Britain,  with  a  Greek  cross  and  the  legend 
Semper  eadem  ("Always  the  same")  below. 

The  first  step  toward  the  securing  of  this  patent 
was  taken  in  December  13,  1702,  when  a  convention 
was  made  with  certain  Indian  proprietors  to  secure 
possession  of  the  land.  Their  names  were  Maringo- 
mack,  Skawgus  Ughquad,  Topainick,  Onickotapp,  and 
Aighquahaeroe.  They  were  Indians  of  the  Minsies 
subtribe,  whose  totem  was  the  wolf.  They  were  a 
branch  of  the  Lenni-Lenape  and  part  of  the  Algon- 
quin nation.  They  had  their  villages  and  tribe  or- 
ganizations and  territorial  possessions.  The  several 
subtribes  were  known  by  their  totems,  such  as  WoK, 
Turkey,  Turtle,  painted  on  their  wigwams  and  blan- 
kets. The  chiefs  of  one  of  these  subtribes  agreed  in 
the  presence  of  William  Merritt,  Esq.,  one  of  her 
Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  for  Orange  County. 
The  document  is  addressed  to  all  Christian  people. 
"  Know  ye  that  we  — then  are  mentioned  their  names 
—  native  Indians,  proprietors  of  a  certain  tract  of 
land  and  meadow,  situate,  being  and  lying  in  the 
county  of  Orange,  called  Cheesecocks,  bounded  to  the 
North  by  the  Patent  lately  granted  unto  Captain  John 
Evans ;  to  the  West  by  the  high  hills  of  the  High- 
lands ;  to  the  South  by  Honan's  Patent ;  to  the  East 
by  the  lands  of  Haverstraw  and  Hudson's  River,  for 
a  certain  sum  of  money  and  goods  to  us  in  hand  paid 
at  and  before  the  ensealing   and   delivery  of  those 


8  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

presents,  by  Doctor  John  Bridges,  Hendrick  Ten 
Eyck,  Dirick  Vandenburg,  John  Cholwell,  Christo- 
pher Denne,  Lancaster  Synies  and  John  Merritt. 
The  receipt  whereof  we  do  hereby  acknowledge  our- 
selves therewith  fully  contented  and  paid.  We  have 
given,  granted,  bargained,  sold  and  confirmed,  and  do 
by  these  presents  give,  grant,  bargain,  sell  and  con- 
firm, for  us  and  our  Heirs  forever  unto  the  above 
named  Doctor  John  Bridges,  Hendrick  Ten  Eyck, 
Dirick  Vandenburg,  John  Cholwell,  Chiistopher 
Denne,  Lancaster  Symes  and  John  Merritt,  all  that 
certain  parcel  of  land,  etc.,  bounded  as  above  men- 
tioned. To  have  and  to  hold  the  said,  before  recited 
Tract,  of  upland  and  meadow  unto  the  said  Doctor 
John  Bridges,  etc.,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  to  the  sole 
and  only  j)roper  use  and  benefit  and  behoof  of  the 
same." 

This  document  differs  in  its  terms  from  the  former 
only  in  specifying  what  is  included  in  these  general 
gifts,  namely :  "  Together  with  all  woods,  underwoods, 
trees,  timbers,  floodings,  pastui'es,  meadows,  marshes, 
swamps,  pools,  ponds,  waters,  water  courses,  rivers, 
rivulets,  runs  and  streams  of  water,"  etc.  This  docu- 
ment was  signed  and  sealed  at  Haverstraw,  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  June,  1701.  In  addition  to  the  signa- 
tures of  the  first-named  Indians  is  appended  that  of 
Toparonick  (his  mark).  It  was  also  sealed  and  de 
hvered  in  the  presence  of  Andrew  Myer,  Ida  Myer, 
and  Nonowitt  (his  mark). 

"Then  appeared  before  me,  William  Merritt,  Esq., 
one  of  her  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  said 
County,  the  within  named  Andrew  Myer,  and  Ida 
Myer,  two  of  the  witnesses  to  the  within  Deed,  and 
declared  upon  the  Holy  Evangelist,  that  they  saw  the 


The  Cheesecock  Patent  9 

witliin  Indians  seal  and  deliver  the  within  instru- 
ment as  their  voluntary  act  and  deed." 

Again  it  will  be  noticed  that  it  was  "  a  certain  tract 
of  upland  and  meadow,"  not  mountain  alone,  as  some 
rival  claimants  would  contend.  The  boundaries  ap- 
pear quite  indefinite.  It  is  bounded  on  all  sides  by 
other  patented  lands,  the  only  natural  boundary 
designated  being  the  west  side  of  the  Highlands. 
What  is  meant  by  these  was  for  a  time  a  subject  of 
dispute.  Some  of  the  neighboring  patentees  would 
insist  that  these  Highlands  were  the  East  Mountains 
stretching  from  the  Clove  to  Haverstraw,  and  that 
the  patent  ceased  where  the  western  slope  of  these 
mountains  merged  into  said  Clove.  But  when  the 
viewers  looked  down  on  the  rich  valleys  stretching 
north  and  south,  and  saw  mountain  ranges  bound- 
ing them  on  the  west,  they  put  a  larger  construction 
on  the  language  of  the  patent,  and  made  it  include 
these  Highlands  as  well.  They  had  this  in  their 
favor,  that  it  was  a  tract  of  "  upland  and  meadow," 
and  this  embraced  both.  How  far  west  they  would 
have  pushed  their  claim  we  know  not ;  but  no  doubt 
they  would  have  claimed  the  western  slope  of  Sugar- 
loaf  and  Bellvale  Mountains,  if  it  had  not  been  that 
they  met  with  a  point  of  resistance  in  a  certain  Dr. 
Bridges  and  the  Wawayanda  patentees.  They  were 
just  as  ambitious  of  pushing  their  claim  eastward  as 
the  proprietors  of  the  Cheesecock  were  of  extending 
their  claim  westward.  In  after  years,  when  settlers 
flowed  in,  disputes  ran  high  with  regard  to  the  titles 
to  the  lands.  A  tribunal  then  had  to  be  appointed, 
which  sat  at  Greycourt  or  Greycoat  Inn  (so  called  be- 
cause of  its  sign  of  a  colonial  soldier  in  coat  of  gray). 
This  tribunal  conceded  to  the  proprietors  of  this 
2 


10         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

patent  their  right  to  the  tract  from  Groosepond  Moun- 
tain and  the  Great  Beaver  Meadow,  which  was  Grey- 
court  Meadow,  to  the  Highlands,  inclusive,  as  far  as 
the  Haverstraw  boundary  and  the  Jersey  line. 

The  patent  required  this  land  to  be  occupied  within 
the  space  of  three  years.  We  know  nothing  of  its 
history  until  the  year  1735. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  FIELD   BOOK  AND   SUEVEY. 

A  SURVEYOR  named  Charles  Clinton  was  em- 
ployed to  survey  the  lands  under  the  patent. 
This  gentleman  had  emigrated  with  his  family,  a  short 
time  previously,  to  the  vicinity  of  New  Windsor. 
He  was  afterward  known  as  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Clinton.  His  sons  were  Greorge  and  James  Clinton. 
His  grandson  was  De  Witt  Clinton,  an  eminent 
statesman  and  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

When  Charles  Clinton  commenced  his  survey  on 
the  river,  Haverstraw  village  seems  to  have  been  al- 
ready begun.  For  when  he  started  out  he  warned 
its  inhabitants  to  show  him  their  boundary,  for  the 
eastern  boundary  he  was  to  find  was  that  of  the  Chris- 
tian patented  lands  of  Haverstraw.  These  people 
seemed  to  have  rather  confused  ideas  of  their  own 
limits,  and,  like  others,  were  inclined  to  push  their 
claims  as  far  as  possible.  But  he  terminated  the  dis- 
pute by  making  Monetcong  Creek  his  base,  and  com- 
menced running  his  courses  toward  the  northwest. 

He  divided  the  mountain  into  great  lots  running 
parallel  with  the  northwest  hne,  and  numbered  them 
from  one  to  seven.  These  contained  five  or  six  thou- 
sand acres  apiece.  The  mountains  south  he  divided 
into  lots  running  at  right  angles  with  the  former,  and 

11 


12         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

running  to  the  Jersey  line.  The  smooth  land  in  the 
valley  was  subdivided  into  smaller  lots  containing 
150  acres  apiece.  He  carefully  recorded  his  surveys 
in  a  field  book,  and  kept  a  sort  of  journal  of  each 
day's  labors  and  incidents,  sometimes  mentioning 
the  state  of  the  weather  —  a  storm,  for  instance ;  his 
stopping  to  repair  a  wigwam ;  his  having  to  dispense 
with  horse  and  carry  his  provisions  on  his  back. 
Most  of  the  time  he  had  an  assistant  or  two ;  but  at 
one  time  was  without  a  chain-bearer,  when  he  paced 
the  ground  with  his  watch  in  his  hand,  reckoning  a 
minute  equal  to  two  chains.  He  was  very  exact  and 
careful  in  his  surveys,  considering  the  nature  of  the 
ground  he  had  to  traverse.  He  proves  his  work  from 
time  to  time,  correcting  errors.  At  one  place  he  al- 
lows a  link  in  each  chain  on  account  of  the  uneven- 
ness  of  the  ground,  calculating  it  will  measure  that 
much  less  when  the  land  is  cleared. 

In  surveying  large  lot  No.  3,  he  says :  "  I  selected 
an  object  in  a  very  thick  beaver  dam,  took  a  tree  a 
considerable  distance  forward,  and  in  my  way  went 
to  a  tree  that  I  observed  to  be  in  the  line.  I  set  the 
compass  again,  being  in  some  doubt  about  the  tree  I 
had  taken,  and  when  the  needle  settled  I  could  not 
take  my  former  tree.  I  then  took  a  back  sight  to  the 
station  I  had  left,  and  my  compass  would  not  agree 
to  it.  Then  returned  to  the  said  first  station  and  set 
there  again.  Found  the  same  tree  I  had  formerly 
taken  to  be  in  the  hne  according  to  the  position  of  the 
needle,  by  which  (I  inferred)  there  was  something  at 
or  near  that  station  that  attracted  the  needle.  Here 
set  the  compass  a  piece  forward  and  took  a  back  sight 
and  found  a  variation  of  10°.  Went  again  back  to 
said  first  station  and  set  the  compass  a  few  yards  for- 


The  Field  Booh  and  Survey.  13 

ward  in  the  line,  and  found  I  had  there  but  6°  varia- 
tion ;  and  a  piece  further  I  found  I  had  but  2°.  I 
could  not  find  either  iron  ore  or  lodestone  near  this 
place,  nor  many  rocks.  It  appeared  a  plain  ridge. 
This  is  the  first  place  I  observed  that  minerals  or  ore 
in  the  earth  will  attract  the  needle.  Dr.  Golden  hav- 
ing sent  his  son  with  me  to  make  remarks  on  this 
curiosity  (accounts  of  which  I  have  given  you),  there- 
fore will  take  no  further  notice  of  it  here." 

This  same  fact  he  records  in  connection  with  other 
parts  of  the  survey,  in  one  instance  mentioning  that 
he  ran  the  line  by  guess  rather  than  by  the  needle.  He 
speaks  of  iron  discovered  by  the  Indians  near  where 
the  O'Neill  and  Mount  Basha  mines  are  at  present. 
Lot  No.  18,  where  the  Grreenwood  Iron  Works  are, 
he  designates  as  suitable  for  iron  works.  At  Tucseto 
he  calls  attention  to  the  fall  of  the  watercourses  and 
their  suitableness  for  manufacturing  pui'poses,  but 
cautions  in  one  place  against  raising  the  water  too 
high,  for  fear  of  spoihng  a  fine  swamp  suitable  for 
meadow.  "When  such  lowlands  were  the  only  re- 
source for  forage,  they  were  considered  of  a  value  far 
beyond  what  they  are  estimated  at  present  unless 
carefully  drained  and  cultivated. 

When  he  is  surveying  lots  68  and  69  he  speaks  of  a 
high  mountain  which  he  calls  Mount  Bashon,  and  the 
pond  near  by,  but  he  does  not  name  the  pond.  Mom- 
basha  may  be  only  a  corruption  of  Mount  Bashon. 
The  Long  Pond  he  names  as  such.  The  body  of 
water  north  of  it  he  calls  the  Pond  with  a  round 
island  in  it ;  so  that  it  is  more  properly  Round  Isl- 
and Pond.  The  pond  commonly  called  Duckcedar  is 
Tuxseto  on  the  earliest  map  of  the  region.  The 
origin  of  the  name  is  probably  Indian. 


14         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Bald  Hill,  near  the  present  village  of  Monroe,  is  so 
called  in  the  Field  Book,  probably  from  some  outcrop 
of  slate  rock  on  its  side,  free  from  timber,  giving  it 
the  appearance  of  baldness. 

Lot  43,  containing  276  acres,  was  situated  "  on  a 
sudden  bend  of  the  '  Ramerpo.' "  It  contained  "  100 
acres  of  barren  and  very  bad  stony  land  in  ye  N.  E. 
side  of  it,  and  in  ye  N.  W.  end.  The  rest  of  it  is 
good  land.  There  is  some  low  land  and  good  swamp 
in  some  places  upon  ye  River.  I  take  it  to  be  equal 
to  any  other  middling  lot,  for  it  has  plowland  and 
meadowland  sufficient  for  a  settlement."  This  and 
lot  No.  16  are  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Mon- 
roe, while  the  bend  of  the  Ramapo  has  been  enlarged 
into  the  village  mill-pond. 

Over  on  the  ridge  not  far  from  Hazard's  Pond  he 
came  to  land  which  he  pronounced  very  poor.  He 
was  seeking  some  tract  suitable  for  a  parsonage.  But 
one  evening  he  broke  off,  dissatisfied,  and  said  he 
should  seek  for  land  somewhere  else.  Shortly  after- 
ward he  happened  upon  a  piece  which  he  numbered 
24,  a  lot  of  150  acres,  which  he  selects  for  a  parson- 
age, and  calls  it  "  a  choice  good  lot."  This  was  held 
by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  place  as  a  glebe 
until  the  year  1804,  when  it  was  exchanged  for  a  part 
of  lot  16  at  the  village  of  Monroe,  containing  58 
acres. 

A  few  additional  extracts  from  the  Field  Book  will 
not  be  uninteresting.  For  the  selection  of  many  of 
these  items  I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Civil 
Engineer  Fred.  J.  Knight. 

Page  306,  Clinton  says  :  "  Being  all  abused  by  the 
rain,  he  built  a  wigwam." 

Page  301,  he  mentions  his  first  observation  of  the 


The  Field  Booh  and  Survey.  15 

influence  of  iron  ore  on  the  needle.  This  was  in  lot 
4,  one  of  the  large  mountain  lots,  afterward  Green- 
wood.    He  finds  similar  traces  of  iron  in  lots  9  and  10. 

Page  321,  he  refers  to  a  meadow  which  had  been 
"dammed  by  beavers."  When  he  came  to  lot  54  he 
found  a  negro  named  Solomon  Peterson,  who  had 
built  a  hut  there.  Here,  near  a  swamp,  he  had  cleared 
a  piece  of  land.  The  entire  lot  comprised  263  acres, 
and  on  it  were  two  free  negro  settlements.  (See  page 
269,  lot  54.)     This  is  the  Samuel  Webb  place. 

In  surveying  lot  61,  he  came  upon  the  cabin  of 
Casper,  a  free  negro,  settled  here  by  Hendrick  Nan- 
derlinden  near  a  heap  of  stones,  in  a  cleared  field,  near 
a  brook  named  Paskak.  Page  222,  on  lot  62,  he  comes 
on  the  settlement  of  Ari  King,  purchased  from  this 
same  Nanderlinden,  and  with  improvements  made  by 
the  latter.  This  is  the  Jeptha  Clark  place,  and  61  is 
the  Samuel  Bull  place.  In  running  the  line  at  lot  69, 
he  came  upon  the  stone  house  and  cleared  land  of 
Abraham  Hoppers.  These  lands  he  formerly  pur- 
chased from  Dr.  Johnston.  "I  did  not  run  the  hne 
lest  he  should  stop  us,  by  what  we  were  informed  of 
others.  Therefore  to  avoid  an  unnecessary  quarrel  we 
did  not  mark  it."  This  lot  is  in  what  is  known  as 
Dutch  Hollow.  The  small  stream  through  it  was 
called  Saddle  River.  Through  it  ran  the  road  from 
Goshen  to  Ramapo. 

He  mentions  an  Indian  settlement  on  lot  52,  the 
place  of  the  late  Dr.  G.  M.  Roe,  where  peach  and  pear 
trees  were  seen.  On  page  234  he  alludes  to  corn- 
fields. Several  times  he  took  refuge  in  wigwams, 
which  also  he  repaired.  Indian  paths  are  mentioned, 
some  indistinct,  crossing  the  Clove  to  Wawayanda, 
Haverstraw  and  Ramapo.     In  lot  64,  easterly  from 


16         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Tiine. 

Bull's  mills,  was  another  Indian  settlement.  He  lodged 
at  wigwams  near  Sugarloaf.  On  pages  338  to  345 
lie  speaks  of  the  road  from  Groshen  to  Stirling,  and 
on  page  34  of  a  path  from  Hazard's  to  Ramapo, 
"  scarce  noticeable  it  is  so  seldom  used." 

The  surveyor  laid  out  the  tract  in  fourteen  large 
lots,  containing  about  5000  acres  apiece,  and  106 
smaller  lots  containing  150  acres.  A  part  of  these 
lots  was  included  in  the  county  of  Rockland  when 
that  county  was  organized.  Lot  43,  on  a  bend  of  the 
Ramapo,  which  he  speaks  of  as  barren,  is  the  site  of 
the  village  of  Monroe. 

Lot  44  was  the  Letts  farm,  in  which  was  a  round 
island  with  a  hassocky  point  running  down  to  it. 

Lot  61,  the  S.  S.  Bull  farm,  contained  a  pond 
which  he  designates  as  Second  Pond.  Mombasha 
is  simply  the  pond  near  Mount  Bashon.  Lot  35  is 
the  D.  V.  Howell  place,  on  which  was  a  great  Bald 
Hill  well  timbered  on  the  northwest  side,  while  the 
rest  was  barren.  This  was  the  late  glebe  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  The  first  lot  set  apart  for  that  pur- 
pose was  the  farm  of  the  late  Andrew  YanValer, 
which  was  so  stony  in  one  spot  that  an  Irishman 
declared  the  old  de'il  was  carrying  stones  in  his  apron 
and  spilled  them  out  to  spite  the  deacon. 

The  copy  of  the  Field  Book  from  which  these  ex- 
tracts have  been  made  was  the  property  of  the  late 
David  Lynch.  It  is  now  owned  by  Major  T.  B. 
Brooks. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DISTEEBUTION   OF   THE  LANDS.     MAPS   OF  LOTS. 

AFTER  the  survey  the  lands  were  allotted  to  the 
JTV.  members  of  the  company  owning  the  patent. 
We  find  different  names  from  those  of  the  original 
patentees.  Now  they  are  reduced  to  six,  and  are  as 
follows:  John  Chambers,  Philip  Livingston,  John 
McEvers,  Catherine  Symes  (wife  probably  of  Lan- 
caster Symes),  William  Smith  and  James  Alexander. 
Chambers  and  Livingston  were  members  of  the  Legis- 
lative Council,  as  was  also  William  Smith,  who  was  at 
one  time  Chief  Justice,  and  then  Governor  of  the  State, 
in  1701.  The  family  seat  is  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Haverstraw.  James  Alexander  was  also  called  Lord 
Stirling  because  of  a  claim  upon  an  earldom  and 
estates  of  that  name  in  Scotland.  He  owned  a  beau- 
tiful estate  at  Ringwood,  was  one  of  the  company 
forming  the  Stirling  Iron  Company,  and  was  father 
of  Lord  Stirling,  who  took  such  an  active  part  as  a 
general  officer  in  our  War  of  Independence. 

We  would  remark  in  passing  that  the  map-makers 
of  the  county  have  not  done  this  town  nor  themselves 
justice  in  their  attempts  to  represent  the  boundaries 
of  the  patent.  In  the  map  published  in  1859  by 
Corey  and  Bachman  of  Philadelphia  was  the  first 
serious  mistake.  The  surveyor  seems  to  have  mis- 
3  17 


18         Chronicles  of  Moiiroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

taken  the  scale  of  the  old  map  of  the  patentees.  He 
started  out  by  making  his  lots  too  large  on  the  east, 
which  had  the  effect  of  pushing  them  all  bodily  the 
distance  of  about  two  lots  or  more  too  far  to  the 
west.  When  he  came  to  lay  his  map  of  the  patent 
on  his  map  of  the  town,  "  the  bed  was  shorter  than 
that  he  could  stretch  himself  on  it,  and  the  covering 
narrower  than  that  he  could  wrap  himself  in  it." 
The  result  was  that  he  had  to  omit  the  whole  tier  of 
lots  that  touch  the  foot  of  Sugarloaf  and  Groosepond 
Mountains,  while  he  was  forced  to  change  the  entire 
shape  of  others.  Hence  the  map  is  useless  so  far  as 
finding  the  location  of  lots  and  patent  lines  is  con- 
cerned, and  is  in  constant  conflict  with  all  the  ancient 
deeds  and  surveys  of  the  place.  The  atlas  of  Orange 
County  published  by  Baskin  and  Burr  of  Newburg 
repeats  the  errors,  and  unfortunately  puts  them  in 
more  permanent  form.  It  is  hoped  that  some  one  of 
Monroe's  own  sons  will  some  day  make  the  needful 
correction  and  produce  a  map  of  the  town  worthy  of 
its  ancient  reputation. 

The  map  published  in  this  volume  is  a  beginning 
of  better  things.  It  is  a  facsimile  of  the  handiwork 
of  Civil  Engineer  Fred.  J.  Knight,  made  expressly  for 
this  work. 

In  glancing  over  the  old  maps  and  noticing  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  lots,  we  find  that  a  large  proportion 
of  them,  some  forty-five,  are  marked  with  the  name  of 
William  Smith.  He  bought  the  Cholwell  and  the 
Ten  Eyck  portions,  each  being  the  one  half  of  a 
seventh  of  the  patent,  and  still  another  similar  por- 
tion audited  to  J.  Berger  and  wife.  This  circum- 
stance explains  the  origin  of  the  name  given  to  that 
part  of  the  tract,  namely,  Smith's  Clove,  Upper  and 


Distribution  of  the  Lands.     Maps  of  Lots.        19 

Lower.  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  it  derived  its 
name  from  the  famous  cowboy  of  that  name  who  put 
the  bar  sinister  on  its  fair  escutcheon. 

At  the  time  the  survey  was  made,  other  parts  of 
the  county  of  Orange  had  been  cleared,  and  a  numer- 
ous population  was  flowing  in  upon  them.  In  1731, 
which  was  a  few  years  earlier,  there  were  1969  persons 
in  the  county.  New  Windsor  was  occupied  about  that 
time,  Newburg  was  laid  out  in  1719,  while  Christo- 
pher Denne,  one  of  the  Cheesecock  patentees,  located 
a  residence  for  himself  on  the  Otterkill  as  early  as 
1712,  and  sent  Sarah  Wells,  an  adopted  daughter, 
under  the  care  of  three  friendly  Indians  and  several 
young  carpenters,  with  cows  and  dogs  and  imple- 
ments, upon  a  sloop,  by  way  of  the  river,  to  New 
Windsor,  to  proceed  across  the  country  to  his  settle- 
ment. He  and  his  wife  started  the  next  day,  and 
came  by  way  of  the  E-amapo,  at  whose  falls  he 
stopped,  reaching  the  Otterkill  one  day  later  than 
Sarah  Wells  and  her  escort.  Shortly  after  she  met 
with  a  young  English  mason  named  William  Bull, 
from  Wolverhampton,  to  whom  she  was  married  at 
Greycourt  Inn,  by  Friends'  ceremony.  They  after- 
ward located  on  a  tract  of  land  purchased  from  Chris- 
topher Denne,  on  the  Wawayanda  Patent,  built  a 
stone  house  still  standing,  and  called  the  place  Hamp- 
ton burgh.  Here  they  raised  a  family  of  twelve  chil- 
dren, from  whom  sprang  the  several  branches  of  the 
Bull  family  which  settled  in  different  parts  of  Monroe 
and  Chester,  and  helped  develop  the  wealth,  enter- 
prise and  intelligence  of  those  towns. 


CHAPTEE  lY. 

INDIANS  AND   INDIAN  NOMENCLATUEE. 

AT  the  time  of  the  survey  this  section  of  country 
XJl  was  a  wilderness  inhabited  by  the  aborigines 
and  a  few  white  men  who  seem  to  have  squatted 
upon  the  land.  Clinton  several  times  mentions  his 
meeting  with  the  settlements  and  wigwams  of  the 
former.  He  took  refuge  more  than  once  in  wigwams, 
some  of  which  were  deserted,  which  he  repaired.  He 
found  a  settlement  upon  the  Dr.  G.  M.  Roe  place,  on 
which  were  growing  peach  and  apple  trees.  Another 
settlement  was  at  Sugarloaf ,  where  he  spent  a  night. 
These  Indians  were  friendly.  Hendrick  Hudson 
found  them  so  when  his  little  ship,  the  Half  Moon, 
ascended  the  Hudson  River,  until  his  crew  gave  them 
fire-water,  and  quarrels  occurred,  and  then  war.  They 
danced  their  war-dance,  or  hintehaue,  on  the  top  of 
Shawangunk  or  Dans  Kammer.  After  several  mas- 
sacres of  the  whites  about  Kingston,  the  Indians  were 
subdued  and  a  treaty  of  peace  was  made. 

The  Indians  of  this  region  were  of  the  Algonquin 
family,  the  Lenni-Lenape  or  Delaware  tribe,  and  the 
Minsies  subtribe.  The  dominion  of  the  Delawares 
extended  from  Kingston  to  Georgia,  south,  and  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi.  Their  castle  was  at 
Philadelphia.  North  of  Kingston  were  the  Six  Tribes. 
East  of  the  North  River  were  the  Mohegans,  also  a 

20 


Indians  and  Indian  Nomenclature,  21 

branch  of  tlie  Algonquins.  Their  language  was  a  very 
perfect  one,  although  unwritten.  Rev.  George  Eliot 
was  the  first  to  reduce  it  to  writing.  He  found  it 
difficult,  because  he  desired  to  inculcate  Christian  and 
moral  ideas,  and  had  to  build  up  his  words  of  many 
syllables  to  clothe  them,  especially  in  translating  the 
Scriptures.  Thus,  to  express  repentance  it  required 
nine  syllables,  and  sinful  lusts  could  be  appeased  with 
no  less  than  thirty-three  letters. 

The  Algonquins  had  musical  ears  and  softened  the 
gutturals  and  harsh  consonants  into  such  euphonious 
words  as  Wyoming,  Wissahickon,  Minisink,  Manhat- 
tan, Monongahela,  Mamakating.  They  had  stronger 
expressions  for  the  rugged  features  of  nature,  as 
Schunemunk,  Shawangunk.  It  is  of  interest  to  trace 
the  meaning  of  some  of  these  Indian  names ;  for,  like 
other  geographical  names,  they  sometimes  reveal  a 
bit  of  history,  ethnography  or  sociology.  Thus,  Wyo- 
ming means  "  broad  fields  " ;  Coxsackie  means  "  owl 
hooting";  Minisink,  " many  islands "  ;  Seawanhaka, 
"  place  of  wampum-making  " ;  Manhattan,  "  bad  chan- 
nel," referring  to  the  East  River;  Shawangunk  is 
"  white  man's  mountain."  Shunam  was  a  contemp- 
tuous expression  for  the  white  man ;  Schunemunk 
signified  "  the  mount  of  the  signal-fires,"  because  the 
Indians  had  a  castle  or  pahsaded  fort  on  the  east 
end.  Onk  always  means  "  high  land,"  and  auk  and 
haka  signify  "  place,"  while  pogh  signifies  "  stream  "  or 
"river" :  thus,  Potomac  is  the  "river  of  the  tomahawk." 
Ramer  is  "many";  hence  Ramer-po  is  "the  many- 
watered." 

Mombasha  has  been  one  of  the  moot  points  in 
Monroe  history  ever  since  the  first  survey.  Clinton 
gives  us  no  help,  for  he  simply  mentions  a  pond  with 


22         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

a  high  mountain  near  by,  which  latter  he  designates 
Mount  Bashon.  Most  historians  so  call  the  pond  or 
lake.  Even  the  Heine  Club  accepts  that  designation. 
Mombasha  then  becomes  a  corruption.  But  we  re- 
mind the  advocates  of  this  theory  that  Dr.  Eager 
mentions  the  burial  of  an  Indian  brave  at  Mombacus 
somewhere  in  this  vicinity.  A  learned  German 
schoolmaster  translated  the  word,  "  King  of  Min- 
erals." Ruttenber  makes  basha  mean  "  death,"  and 
derives  the  name  from  a  battle  or  a  cemetery.  Some- 
times we  have  leaned  to  the  opinion  that  the  female 
sachem  Basha  Bashika,  whose  name  is  given  to  a 
kill  or  stream  further  west,  may  have  been  the  Debo- 
rah of  this  region.  But  further  researches  give  as 
its  meaning,  "the  ensign  of  bloody  battle,"  mom 
meaning  "  pain,  agony,"  and  basha,  "  the  ensign  of 
battle."  See  "  Dictionary  of  the  Delaware  Language," 
by  M.  S.  Henry,  in  Franklin  Library,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Tuxedo  is  another  obscure  name.  The  vulgar  pro- 
nunciation is  Duckcedar.  Dr.  Eager  claims  this  is 
correct,  and  the  vulgar  have  corrupted  it  into  Tux- 
edo. He  says  it  was  so  named  because  of  the  ducks 
and  cedars  that  abound  there.  Others  suppose  it  to 
be  of  Spanish  origin,  like  Toledo,  even  claiming  there 
is  an  estate  on  Long  Island  with  similar  name.  But 
the  difficulty  is,  there  was  no  Spanish  settler  in  the 
region.  Clinton  calls  it  "  Tucseto,"  and  so  do  the 
earlier  maps.  Let  us  try  oui'  Indian  measuring-line 
upon  it.  Tuck,  in  Algonquin,  and  even  in  Chinook 
jargon,  means  "freshwater."  Thus  the  North  River 
was  called  Mohicanrdtuck,  the  "flowing  water  of  the 
Mohegans."  Pawtuxet  is  applied  to  the  falls  of  the 
Merrimac,  and  means  "leaping  fresh  water."  The 
terminal  in  Tuxedo  we  regard  as  a  verbal  one,  and 


Indians  and  Indian  Nomenclature.  23 

means  "flowing,"  so  that  Tuxedo,  according  to  onr 
theory,  is  the  "lake  of  clear  flowing  water"  :  rightly 
named  because  of  the  cascade  by  which  the  water 
entered  it,  and  the  natural  fall  mentioned  by  Clinton 
by  which  it  left  it.  Clinton  speaks  of  its  fine  water- 
power,  and  a  valuable  meadow  that  must  not  be  over- 
flowed by  raising  the  water  too  high. 

The  term  "  Cheesecock,"  applied  to  the  patent, 
yields  even  more  satisfactory  results  if  regarded  as 
an  Algonquin  word.  Residents  of  Monroe  once 
imagined  it  was  borrowed  from  some  English  Lord 
Cheesecock,  but  there  was  no  record  of  any  such 
person.  When  we  apply  our  etymological  test  to  it, 
it  gives  a  different  result.  Chis  in  Algonquin  is 
"high,"  and  kauk  is  "land."  Thus,  Pas  kauk  is 
"burnt  land";  Montauk  is  "the  land  of  the  oaks"; 
Mount  Kis  ko  or  kauk  is  "  the  mountain  of  upland." 
So  Cheese  cock,  or  better,  Chis  kauk,  is  the  Patent  of 
the  Highland,  as  its  very  contents  demonstrate. 

The  Indians  of  this  tract  were  generally  disposed 
to  be  friendly,  so  long  as  the  white  man  kept  his 
word  with  them ;  and  we  read  of  no  complaint  under 
the  Cheesecock  Patent ;  but  under  the  Minisink 
Patent  the  Indians  were  not  paid  for  their  lands 
which  early  began  to  be  settled.  Wrongs  under  the 
Penn  Treaty  exasperated  this  same  tribe,  the  Min- 
sies  or  Lenape,  who  had  their  fort  at  Philadelphia. 
Hence  the  incursions  upon  the  frontier  settlements 
along  the  Susquehanna  and  Delaware  up  to  Port 
Jervis  and  beyond.  Minisink  suffered  terribly. 
Homes  were  burned,  women  and  children  butchered, 
cattle  driven  away,  till  the  region  was  nearly  depop- 
ulated. Block-houses  were  built  to  protect  the  few 
who  were  brave  enough  to  resist.     At  the  close  of 


24         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

the  French  and  Indian  War  the  Indians  were  paci- 
fied by  paying  them  for  their  lands,  and  they  re- 
mained friendly  until  the  Revolutionary  War,  when 
the  Tories  stirred  them  up,  and  the  English  sent 
agents  among  them  to  engage  their  arms  against  the 
patriotic  frontiersmen.  During  the  years  1778  and 
1779  the  whole  frontier  was  ablaze  with  the  flames 
of  war.  The  Tory  element  gave  it  peculiar  horror, 
because  neighbor  betrayed  neighbor,  and  even  brother 
a  brother.  Brant  and  his  Tory  alhes  had  their 
camp  at  Oghkawaga,  now  Binghamton.  They  per- 
petrated the  twin  massacres  of  Wyoming  and  Mini- 
sink,  deeds  of  cruelty  burned  into  the  memory  of  the 
nation.  The  latter  of  these  raids  aroused  the  whole 
region  about  Minisink,  and  an  expedition  was 
promptly  fitted  out  to  punish  the  savages.  They 
were  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Hathorn  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Tusten.  The  brave  band  plunged 
into  the  forest  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Lacka- 
waxen,  and  there  fell  into  an  ambush  prepared  by 
Brant  and  the  Tories.  The  Spartan  band  fought 
bravely  till  ammunition  failed,  when  the  scene  closed 
with  a  butchery  from  which  only  about  thirty  es- 
caped. This  was  the  historic  battle  of  Minisink, 
commemorated  by  a  monument  at  Goshen  containing 
the  names  of  the  brave  martyrs  of  Liberty.  The 
date  of  the  battle  was  July  22,  1779. 

Monroe,  being  situated  so  far  from  the  frontier,  did 
not  suffer  directly  from  these  incursions  of  the  In- 
dians. The  strain  upon  Monroe  and  drain  of  men 
was  in  the  direction  of  the  Highlands,  where  the 
fiercest  struggle  was  with  the  flower  of  the  English 
army,  which  was  doing  its  utmost  to  control  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Hudson. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


PHYSICAL  FEATUEES. 


BEFORE  we  speak  of  tlie  early  settlement  of  this 
tract,  it  is  well  to  glance  at  some  of  its  physical 
features,  and  see  what  inducements  it  held  out  to 
settlers,  and  how  they  were  hkely  to  shape  their  des- 
tiny ;  for  the  very  character  of  a  people  depends  upon 
their  environment.  The  hues  of  the  Patent  were  so 
indeterminate  on  account  of  the  contiguity  of  other 
patents,  that  they  had  to  be  settled  by  arbitration, 
both  on  the  northwest  and  along  the  Jersey  line, 
where  a  "gore  line"  was  claimed  reaching  to  Tuxedo. 
But  when  these  lines  were  adjusted  it  left  the  town 
nearly  the  shape  of  a  trapezoid.  The  three  rectangu- 
lar sides  impinged,  on  the  southeast,  upon  Rockland ; 
on  the  northwest,  upon  Cornwall,  and  Highland  on 
the  north,  touching  Blooming  Grove,  and  on  the  west 
Warwick,  the  apex  just  reaching  the  Jersey  line. 
The  tract  consists  of  "upland  and  meadow,"  as  the 
Patent  describes  it.  The  valley  of  the  Ramapo  en- 
ters on  the  south  —  the  only  direct  route  on  this  side 
of  the  Highlands  near  the  river  to  the  north.  The 
valley  widens  at  Grreenwood,  and  divides  into  two, 
called  "Cloves"  —  the  Upper  and  Lower  Smith's 
Clove.  These  are  hemmed  in  by  lofty  mountains : 
Highlands  to  the  southeast;  Schunemunk  to  the  north- 
4  25 


26  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

west ;  Bellvale  Mountain  on  the  west ;  and  Southfield 
Mountains  on  the  south.  These  valleys  swell  up  into 
knolls  and  ridges  with  noble  prospects  and  inviting 
sites  for  homes  and  hamlets.  The  mountains  break 
from  ridges  to  single  peaks  between  which  nestle  vales 
as  quiet  and  restful  as  many  in  Scotland.  Indeed,  the 
region  has  been  called  the  Trosachs  of  America,  be- 
cause so  hke  the  same  in  Scotland. 

In  travelling  through  this  region,  scenery  of  sur- 
passing beauty  strikes  the  eye  of  the  tourist ;  and  if 
he  be  an  artist,  he  wiU.  want  to  place  his  easel  or  use 
his  kodak.  But  his  aesthetic  taste  will  not  seldom 
revolt  at  the  uncanny  names  which  the  early  settlers 
gave  to  lakes  beautiful  as  Windermere  or  Loch 
Katrine.  The  entire  water  system  of  the  town  is 
remarkable.  The  Indian  Ramapo,  or  "  many  waters," 
well  expressed  the  fact.  The  stream  of  that  name 
rises  in  the  Round  Island  Pond,  a  most  beautiful 
sheet  of  water,  where  the  Indian  youth  raced  their 
canoes  to  win  their  dusky  brides ;  but  now  the  re- 
sort of  their  fair  successors  from  every  part  of  the 
county.  The  wooded  island  called  Chestnut  Island, 
and  the  sunny  sloping  shores,  offer  sites  for  cottages 
and  villas  of  rare  beauty.  This  spot  is  really  the  water- 
shed of  the  level  portion  of  the  town ;  for  the  Long 
Pond,  or  Walton  Lake,  as  it  has  been  more  euphoni- 
ously called,  lies  but  a  few  feet  away,  and  yet  sends  its 
waters  through  Craigville  and  Chester,  furnishing  a 
mill-seat  for  the  former,  and  domestic  supply  of 
water  for  the  latter,  and  then  empties  into  Murderer's 
Creek,  now  Moodna,  and  so  reaches  the  Hudson  far 
away  from  the  water  of  its  neighbor,  the  Ramapo. 
This  latter  furnishes  seats  for  many  mills  and  fur- 
naces, so  great  is  its  fall.     It  receives  the  waters  of 


Physical  Features.  27 

Mombaslia  at  Southfield,  where  it  affords  valuable 
mill-power.  This  lake  is  about  two  miles  from  Mon- 
roe village.  While  it  is  picturesque  in  surroundings, 
it  presents  the  remarkable  phenomenon  of  floating 
islands  which  break  away  of  their  own  accord  and 
carry  their  masses  of  tangled  bushes  wherever  the 
wind  steers  them.  The  abundance  of  fish  in  this  and 
other  lakes  invites  the  disciple  of  Izaak  Walton  to 
cast  his  line  and  lot  here. 

A  club-house  has  been  built  on  the  border  of  this 
lake,  making  it  a  very  popular  resort.  Mr.  Geo. 
R.  Conklin  has  bought  a  number  of  acres  in  this 
vicinity,  and  is  building  beautiful  cottages,  so  that  it 
is  becoming  quite  a  villa.  Water-works  are  built 
here,  for  the  water  of  this  lake  supphes  the  village  of 
Monroe.  A  fine  road  has  also  been  laid  out,  which  will 
connect  this  lake  with  its  rival  the  Tuxedo,  and  make 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  driveways  in  the  country. 

Another  confluent  of  the  Ramapo  is  Wild  Cat 
Brook.  It  brings  down  the  waters  of  the  mountains 
below  Southfield,  over  the  rockiest  of  beds,  and 
rushes  out  near  the  site  of  the  old  saw- works.  It  is 
full  of  speckled  beauties,  and  has  given  us  more  than 
one  enjoyable  outing.  Tuxedo  Lake  is  another  source 
of  supply  of  this  remarkable  river.  Charles  Clinton 
refers  to  it  in  his  Field  Book,  speaking  of  a  fine  marsh 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  fitness  of  the  lake  to 
furnish  power,  but  advises  not  to  raise  the  water  too 
high  and  spoil  the  marsh  or  meadow.  He  calls  it 
Tucseto. 

After  passing  through  various  forms  of  spelling 
and  definition,  from  the  vulgar  Duckcedar  of  Eager 
to  the  fanciful  Truxillo  of  Ruttenber,  it  has  settled 
down  to  that  of  Tuxedo,  which  is  the  lake  of  fresh 


28         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

sparkling  water,  full  of  fish,  with  picturesque  rocky 
shores  adapted  to  just  what  it  has  been  made,  a  park 
for  residences  and  every  rural  and  athletic  sport. 
It  was  laid  out  by  Pierre  Lorillard  in  1885,  who 
fenced  it  in  and  stocked  it  with  deer  and  wild  boar, 
and  other  game,  making  it,  with  its  villas,  club-house, 
and  chm^ch,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  parks  on  the 
Atlantic  slope. 

But  we  have  not  begun  to  exhaust  the  lake  system 
of  Monroe  in  the  mention  of  these  lakes;  for  the 
whole  region  of  the  Highlands  is  covered  with  them. 
Wherever  you  drive  or  walk,  they  burst  upon  your 
view  suddenly  on  a  mountam-top,  in  a  forest  or  dell, 
where  least  expected.  From  Summit  Lake  up  in  the 
northeast  corner,  there  is  a  continuous  chain  of  lakes 
all  the  way  down  past  Grreenwood  to  the  Ramapo, 
where  most  of  them  empty.  There  are  Two  Ponds, 
Echo,  Carr,  Cedar,  Niggar,  Cranberry,  Slaughters,  and 
others,  till  we  are  lost  amid  their  commonplace  names. 
They  belong  to  a  limestone  region,  the  waters  of 
which  have  dissolved  out  the  mineral  and  left  these 
picturesque  basins,  beside  which  mountaineers  love 
to  dwell,  and  sportsmen  to  camp. 

Poplopens  Pond  is  named  after  a  warrior  of  that 
name,  who  had  his  castle  on  its  banks.  The  pond  flows 
through  a  creek  of  that  name,  and  empties  through 
Buttermilk  or  Highland  Falls  into  the  Hudson. 
Woodbury  Creek  rises  in  Hazard's  Pond,  now  Crom- 
well Lake,  on  the  banks  of  which  is  a  fine  hotel  kept 
by  Oliver  Cromwell  —  a  most  delightful  resort.  The 
stream  furnishes  the  power  for  the  tannery  and  grist- 
mill at  Highland  Mills,  fiows  past  Woodbury  and 
joins  the  Moodna  made  famous  by  N.  P.  Willis'  resi- 
dence and  writings. 


Physical  Features.  29 

The  geology  of  Monroe  has  an  important  bearing 
upon  its  settlement  and  history.  It  is  one  of  the 
principles  of  physical  geography  that  the  physical 
features  of  a  country  largely  influence  its  morals. 
People  of  effeminate  tastes  gravitate  toward  warm 
alluvions  hke  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  hut  the  men 
of  grit  choose  more  elevated  plateaus,  where  there 
are  flints,  sand,  lime  and  iron.  Such  regions  furnish 
the  master  minds  and  heroes  of  the  world.  Provi- 
dence destined  this  region  to  be  the  abode  of  no 
mean  race.  The  more  mountainous  portions  of  the 
town  would  be  classified  with  the  azoic  period  of 
the  world's  construction ;  the  rocks  being  mostly  of 
the  primary  class.  The  Highlands  are  part  of  the 
great  Appalachian  range  which  forms  the  eastern 
framework  of  the  continent  —  the  earliest  with  the 
Rockies  to  be  lifted  out  of  the  primeval  ocean. 
Monroe  is  literally  old  Monroe, 

"  Rock-ribbed  and  ancient  as  the  sun. " 

The  materials  of  these  rocks  are  mingled  in  dif- 
ferent proportions:  feldspar,  mica,  quartz;  yielding 
hornblende,  gneiss,  syenite  and  granite.  Sometimes 
these  materials  have  scorned  admixture,  and  pushing 
all  rivals  aside,  have  been  heaved  up  and  congealed,  a 
splendid  crystalline  column,  as  is  the  case  in  a  remark- 
able instance  with  quartz.  Beds  and  veins  of  iron, 
magnetic,  specular,  crystallized  and  even  granular, 
have  also  been  laid  down  along  with  these  rocks; 
iron  adapted  to  every  purpose,  from  malleable  cast- 
ing, for  a  door-latch,  to  the  sheet-anchor  of  an  iron- 
clad, or  a  twelve-inch  rifled  gun.  Beds  of  limestone 
were  also  stored  in  close  proximity  to  these  deposits 
of  iron,  while  sand  for  moulding  and  fire-clay  were 


30         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

within  easy  reach.  But  where  is  the  fuel  ?  Timber 
of  best  grades  abounds,  but  wasteful  man  demands 
something  more  economical.  It  was  the  hope  of 
some  that  coal  would  be  found  in  some  of  these 
strata.  A  premium  offered  by  the  State  stimulated 
the  search;  but  nothing  was  found  beyond  a  little 
lignite,  after  opening  a  shaft  on  Pedlar  Hill.  The 
sandstone  of  that  locahty  is  the  floor  of  the  coal- 
measures.  Schunemunk  is  of  like  fomiation.  On 
the  southwest  are  coarse  conglomerates,  which  be- 
come more  and  more  fine  toward  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity; at  one  spot  presenting  an  upheaved  mass  of 
graywacke,  as  if  nature  would  give  an  object  lesson  in 
quarrying. 

Still  further  east,  where  the  mountain  spreads  out 
into  a  wide  plateau,  a  rocky  acropohs  lifts  its  rugged 
head,  composed  of  coarse  conglomerate.  On  the  sur- 
face of  this  great  stone  page  nature,  with  iceberg  or 
glacier,  has  scratched  long  lines,  which  the  scientist 
interprets  as  the  record  of  prehistoric  time.  In  some 
instances  the  flints  in  this  stone  pudding  are  cut 
directly  in  half.  On  the  lichens  that  blacken  its 
sides,  giving  the  spot  the  name  of  Black  Rocks,  are 
scratched  the  names  of  those  who  have  scaled  these 
heights,  and  left  their  monogram  on  the  stone  page  and 
some  of  their  ashes  "  in  Memory's  sacred  urn."  As 
we  descend  Schunemunk  on  the  south,  we  see  the 
moraines  of  glaciers  fringed  with  boulders,  the  hghter 
of  which  can  be  traced  far  down  the  vaUeys,  inter- 
mingled with  shell  rock,  oolite  and  even  with  Labra- 
dor spar,  showing  that  some  time  in  the  hoary  past, 
when  this  planet  was  fitting  up  for  man's  abode,  ice 
and  flood  swept  over  these  vales  and  the  mountain- 
tops  were  covered.  These  will  account  for  the  de- 
posits of  clay,  sand,  gravel  and  hmestone.     But  heat. 


Physical  Features.  81 

as  the  third  factor,  was  necessary  to  metamorphose 
many  of  these  and  give  ns  the  beautiful  crystals  of 
iron,  serpentine,  quartz  and  calc,  all  of  which  invite 
the  student  of  nature.  It  boasts  also  some  rare  min- 
erals, as  brucite,  xanthite  and  spinelles,  fine  shell 
impressions,  pyrites.  One  mineral,  not  found  else- 
where, has  been  named  monroeite.  Silver  was  dis- 
covered near  the  Haverstraw  border  very  early  and 
worked;  but  as  no  evidence  of  it  has  transpired 
except  the  abandoned  shaft,  it  may  be  set  down  as  a 
failure.  Utility  has  rather  been  the  motto  in  laying 
out  Monroe.  Here  are  rocks  of  every  material  from 
granite  to  statuary  marble,  and  every  tint  from  Pa- 
rian whiteness,  through  shades  of  gray,  green,  pink, 
red,  to  the  blackest  porphyry.  Mica,  asbestos  and 
slate  abound.  Even  slate  pencils  of  talc  were  found 
on  the  slopes  of  Bald  Hill  by  the  school-boys  of  a 
former  generation. 

A  quarry  of  mica  has  recently  been  opened  near 
Mombasha  by  the  Mombasha  Mica  Company,  from 
which  fine  sheets  of  the  mineral  are  obtained,  prom- 
ising Monroe  a  new  source  of  wealth.  Perhaps  it 
might  surprise  a  stranger  to  see  even  the  Houser 
ironstone  put  to  a  useful  purpose ;  but  inasmuch  as 
it  bids  defiance  to  juvenile  jack-knives,  it  has  been 
found  useful  for  school-house  material.  There  was 
no  lack  of  good  timber  in  this  region  for  coahng, 
fuel,  building,  or  even  hoop-poles.  These  last  were 
long  called  "Clove  wheat."  But  let  us  not  suppose 
that  it  was  adapted  only  to  the  growth  of  timber. 

The  forests  were  full  of  trees  yielding  an  abundance 
of  beech  nuts,  chestnuts  and  hickory  nuts,  with  vines 
twining  over  tree  and  rock,  purple  with  wild  grapes, 
hedgerow  and  bush  offering  their  tribute  of  luscious 
berries.     These  forests  swarmed  with  red  deer,  moose 


32         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

and  squirrel,  with  flocks  of  wild  turkeys,  partridge, 
pheasant  and  woodcock;  and  the  lakes  and  streams 
were  ahve  with  salmon,  trout,  pickerel  and  catfish. 
Thus  it  was  "a  goodly  land"  from  the  beginning; 
offering  to  the  settler  at  least  subsistence  at  his  arrival, 
even  in  midwinter,  with  promise  of  good  in  abeyance, 
to  cater  to  both  taste  and  profit. 

Soils  of  great  fertility  were  laid  down  here ;  yes, 
brought  from  distant  hills  to  furnish  slope  and 
meadow.  Here  are  alluvions  of  great  depth  and  good 
grain-lands ;  but  what  the  town  is  best  adapted  for  is 
grazing.  The  grasses,  like  those  of  the  Blue  Grass 
region  of  Kentucky,  contain  just  those  elements 
which  yield  fattening  and  milk-producing  quahties. 
Had  the  mountains  of  Monroe  been  only  a  mass  of 
rock,  like  some  parts  of  Scotland,  they  might  have 
been  abandoned  to  the  heather  and  become  great 
solitary  sheep-walks ;  or  if  they  had  been  only  pic- 
turesque vales  and  quiet  nooks,  there  would  have 
been  a  temptation  to  some  lord  of  the  manor  to 
make  it  his  park  and  comitry-seat.  Heaven  had  a 
better  destiny  in  store  for  it :  hence  mingled  rocks 
and  soils  so  as  to  invite  the  plow,  scooped  out  the 
water-courses  to  attract  the  loom  and  forge,  hid  away 
such  materials  as  would  bring  hither  the  herdman 
and  artisan,  the  abhorrence  of  lordly  pretension  and 
elegant  leisure.  Monroe,  from  its  very  physical  con- 
stitution, was  predestined  to  be  the  home  of  honest 
toil  and  frugal  industry.  In  the  vicinity  of  what  was 
to  be  the  greatest  city  of  the  New  World,  and  on  the 
route  of  its  best  approaches  from  west  and  north, 
wealth  and  prosperity  ought  to  be  its  sure  reward, 
and  doubtless  will  when  the  wisdom  of  men  is  able  to 
master  the  situation. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OEGANIZATION   OF   THE    COUNTY    OF    OEANGE    AND    TOWN 

OF   MONEOE. 

HAVINGr  taken  an  eagle's  view  of  the  land,  before 
we  proceed  further  it  is  in  order  to  speak  of 
the  organization  of  the  county,  which  preceded  that 
of  the  town.  Orange  County  was  organized  in  the 
year  1683,  under  the  reign  of  Wilham,  Prince  of 
Orange,  from  whom  it  takes  its  name.  It  then  em- 
braced all  of  Rockland  and  part  of  Ulster  County. 
These  were  first  set  off  in  1691. 

The  precinct  of  Goshen  was  erected  in  1714.  In 
1764  it  was  divided  into  Cornwall,  Blooming  Grove, 
and  Cheesecocks.  In  1801  the  form  and  title  was 
changed  from  precinct  to  town.  The  name  of 
Cheesecocks  was  exchanged  for  Southfield.  On  the 
6th  of  April,  1808,  it  was  resolved  to  drop  the  name 
of  Southfield  and  take  the  honorable  and  historic 
name  of  Monroe.  This  was  done  in  honor  of  James 
Monroe,  who,  having  achieved  distinction  in  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  where  he  served  as  aid  to  Lord 
Stirling,  had  been  honored  by  the  government 
with  high  diplomatic  commissions,  and  still  further 
was  chosen  by  the  people  to  the  Presidential  chair. 
For  such  distinguished  public  services  his  many  ad- 
mirers in  this  vicinity  deemed  it  fit  to  honor  him 
5  33 


34         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

still  further  by  naming  this  historic  town  after  him, 
and  under  a  name  of  which  it  has  ever  been  proud  it 
has  won  its  place  in  history.  The  first  town  meet- 
ing was  held  while  yet  called  Cheesecocks,  in  May, 
1799.  James  D.  Secor  was  chosen  clerk,  and  Michael 
Hays,  supervisor.  All  the  institutions  of  the  town 
were  put  in  operation  in  1808. 

The  following  is  the  Ust  of  supervisors : 

Michael  Hay. 

Moses  Cunningham  (6  years). 
John  Coffey  (2  years). 
Abraham  Letts  (8  years). 
John  McGtAerah  (1  year). 
James  Cromwell  (1  year). 
James  Caimpbell,  Jr.  (1  year). 
James  Weygant  (9  years). 
EoBERT  Fowler  (1  year). 
Hudson  McFarlan  (16  years). 
Charles  Townsend  (2  years). 
Lewis  H.  Eoe  (1  year). 
Morgan  Shuitt  (33  years).* 
Chauncey  B.  Knight  in  1864. 
Edward  Seaman  (3  years). 
John  G.  Earl  (1  year). 
Joseph  Rake  (2  years). 
Charles  T.  Knight  (5  years). 
C.  Fred.  Lamont  (13  years). 

In   the  year  1863  a   movement  was  set   afoot  to 
divide  the  old  town  of  Monroe  into  three  towns.     A 

*  Served  from  1849-1881.     This,  we  believe,  is  the  longest  consecutive 
period  for  which  any  man  held  an  elective  office  in  this  State. 


Organization  of-  Orange  and  Monroe.  35 

petition  was  sent  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  which 
was  granted  at  its  annual  meeting.  The  names  of 
the  new  towns  were,  respectively,  Monroe,  Highland, 
and  Southfield.  Monroe  held  its  new  town  meeting 
March  22,  1864,  electing  Chauncey  B.  Knight  as 
supervisor,  and  a  full  set  of  officers.  Highland  did 
hkewise,  choosing  its  old  favorite  Morgan  Shuitt, 
with  others.  The  town  of  Southfield  organized  in 
like  manner,  Josiah  Paterson  having  been  elected 
supervisor;  hut  the  records  of  the  proceedings,  for 
some  unaccountable  reason,  are  not  in  the  archives 
of  the  town  of  Monroe.  This  whole  piece  of  pohti- 
cal  surgery  was  at  length  disapproved,  and  the  dis- 
jecta membra  were  brought  together  and  reunited  be- 
fore they  had  grown  cold.  In  1865  the  legislature 
was  asked  to  overrule  the  action  of  the  Town  Board, 
and  restore  the  old  town  to  its  pristine  glory. 

But  notwithstanding  the  lessons  of  the  past,  we 
must  chronicle  a  similar  triple  subdivision  at  a  more 
recent  date. 

In  December,  1889,  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  upon 
representation  of  the  diverse  interests  of  different 
parts  of  the  town,  resolved  to  redivide  the  same  into 
three  parts.  Three  new  towns  were  erected — named, 
respectively,  Monroe,  Woodbury,  and  Tuxedo.  The 
hues  were  run  so  as  to  give  Monroe  1150  acres; 
Woodbury,  23,000 ;  Tuxedo,  50,000.  The  first  super- 
visor of  Tuxedo  is  J.  Spencer  Ford ;  the  first  super- 
visor of  the  new  town  of  Woodbury  is  John  A.  Pat- 
erson; and  the  first  supervisor  of  Monroe  is  C.  F. 
Lamont ;  the  second,  elected  in  1897,  is  Greorge  K. 
Smith. 

Before  we  drop  this  subject  it  is  well  to  remember 
a  few  additional  facts,  namely :  that  the  first  subdi- 


36         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

vision  of  the  town  was  made  in  war  times,  when  it 
was  desirable  to  get  control  of  a  majority  in  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  and  it  was  so  carved  with  a 
view  to  that  end.  The  plan  failed,  so  that  in  a  short 
time  even  its  advocates  desired  the  reuniting  of  the 
fragments.  When  the  desire  returned  in  1889  to 
divide  again,  the  reason  now  given  was  that  the 
town  was  too  large  and  its  interests  were  too  diverse 
for  harmonious  government. 

The  Board  of  Supervisors  resolved  that  the  town 
should  be  divided  on  the  old  hnes,  only  that  the  names 
of  Highland  and  Tuxedo  should  be  substituted  for 
Woodbury  and  Southfield.  This  was  duly  passed 
upon  by  the  legislature  and  signed  by  the  governor. 
Now  the  boundary  hne  between  Monroe  and  Tuxedo 
had  not  been  clearly  determined  by  careful  survey, 
or  at  least  had  not  been  marked  by  monuments. 
Hence  when  the  Heine  Club  desired  to  construct  a 
road  from  Mombasha,  where  they  were  constructing 
a  park,  to  Southfield,  it  became  a  practical  question, 
says  Mr.  A.  B.  Hulse,  how  much  of  this  road  must  be 
paid  for  by  each  town.  Hence  a  question  as  to  the 
division  hne.  The  men  who  were  with  the  1863  sur- 
veyor said  "it  crossed  Mombasha  Pond,  but  they 
did  not  know  where."  In  this  emergency,  when  war 
seemed  imminent,  Mr.  Fred.  J.  Knight,  the  surveyor, 
came  forward  and  established  the  line.  He  pointed 
out  that  the  hne  of  1863  must  have  been  a  trial  or 
random  line,  the  true  line  never  having  been  run. 
This  decided  the  matter,  and  to  one  of  her  loyal  sons 
was  Monroe  indebted  for  the  saving  of  fair  Mom- 
basha to  the  territory  of  his  native  town,  "  to  which," 
says  our  informant,  "  Nature  intended  it  should  be- 
long."     But  the  mountains  in  which  Monroe  once 


Organisation  of  Orange  and  Monroe.  37 

gloried  have  been  rent  from  her  mantle  and  turned 
over  to  her  sister  towns.     Sic  transit  gloria  ! 

The  town,  thus  shorn  of  its  ancient  proportions, 
enters  upon  a  new  epoch  of  history,  which  it  is  hoped 
will  be  as  worth  chronicling  by  some  future  historian 
nourished  on  its  own  soil  as  has  been  the  past. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  EAELY   SETTLEMENT   OF   THE   TOWN. 

WHILE  the  emigrants  from  England  and  Holland 
were  locating  along  tlie  Wallkill,  the  valley  of 
Mamakating  and  the  Neversink,  clearing  farms,  build- 
ing homes,  villages  and  churches,  the  rough  moun- 
tain slopes  and  cloves  were  passed  by  and  remained 
a  wilderness,  undisturbed  by  white  men,  except,  per- 
haps, by  some  Indian  trader  or  trapper,  some  lover  of 
adventure  or  traveller,  who  found  that  the  valley  of 
the  Ramapo  was  the  natural  and  nearest  route  to 
Manhattan  Island.  In  course  of  time,  as  early  as 
1742,  came  a  few  settlers  who  staked  out  their 
claims  and  set  up  their  log  cabins.  These  settlers 
were  not  the  mere  overflow  of  more  thickly  popu- 
lated parts  of  the  county,  but  many  of  them  immi- 
grants from  abroad,  by  the  way  of  Connecticut  and 
Long  Island.  Among  these  were  such  names  as 
John,  David,  and  Hophni  Smith,  John  Belcher, 
Robert  Brock,  Henry  Cock,  John  Bull,  Solomon 
Townsend,  A.  Cunningham,  David  Compton,  Solo- 
mon Cromwell,  Joseph  Davis,  John  Earl,  Alexander 
Gralloway,  Wilham  Fitzgerald,  Ehjah  Green,  Samuel 
Knight,  Henry  Mapes,  Daniel  Miller,  Joseph  Pat- 
erson,  Alfred  Cooper,  James  Wilkes,  and  Jas.  Secor. 
Others  could  be  mentioned,  but  these  are  the  most 

38 


The  Early  Settlement  of  the  Town.  39 

familiar.  Some  of  their  name  occupy  the  ancestral 
acres,  but  most  of  the  original  estates  are  now  held 
by  another  generation,  who,  though  just  as  ancient 
and  honorable  in  ancestry,  yet  have  come  into  the 
town  later.  The  reason  why  the  lands  of  the  Patent 
were  not  sooner  taken  up  was  that  the  original  pat- 
entees, being  wealthy,  did  not  care  to  dispose  of  their 
lands.  Some  were  held  by  the  same  famihes  till 
after  the  Revolution.  The  desire  was  to  hold  a  pa- 
troon  relation  to  the  settlers  hke  the  Van  Rensselaer 
patentees  in  the  more  northern  part  of  the  State. 
Having  no  motive  to  sell,  and  no  disposition  to  come 
and  settle  themselves,  squatters  soon  came  in  and 
gave  it  an  une viable  reputation.  Such  neighbor- 
hoods naturally  attract  the  lawless  and  desperate. 
The  broken  nature  of  the  country,  the  numerous 
caves  and  inaccessible  cliffs,Vould  afford  safe  hiding- 
places  for  desperadoes  and  their  plunder.  But  this 
condition  of  things  could  remain  only  until  the  more 
orderly  organized  themselves  into  a  community,  and 
brought  law  as  well  as  pubhc  opinion  to  bear  upon 
them.  The  oncoming  of  the  Revolutionary  War  de- 
layed the  reformation  of  morals  and  the  estabHsh- 
ment  of  order.  The  career  of  Claudius  Smith,  the 
notorious  cowboy,  gave  an  unsavory  reputation  to 
the  Clove ;  and  the  recent  "  History  of  Orange  Coun- 
ty" even  goes  so  far  as  to  attribute  its  name  to  him, 
whereas  it  is  well  known  that  it  received  its  name 
long  before,  from  Wilham  Smith,  one  of  the  original 
patentees.  As  an  illustration  of  the  reputation  which 
it  had  early  acquired  among  its  neighbors,  it  is  related 
that  when  a  tramp  settler  appeared  before  a  Dutch 
justice  over  in  Warwick,  and  was  warned  to  leave  the 
town,  he  asked,  "  Where,  then,  shall  I  go  ?  "    The  jus- 


40  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

tice  answered  promptly,  "  Vy,  go  to  Schmit's  Clove." 
From  the  natm'e  of  the  case  there  would  be  frequent 
disputes  over  the  ownership  of  land  and  trespasses 
of  cattle,  so  that  lawsuits  were  of  constant  occur- 
rence. Then  there  were  horse  races  and  trainings, 
accompanied  with  drinking-bouts,  and  often  rude 
wi'estlings  and  more  serious  combats.  One  of  the 
matrons  spoke  of  a  flat  rock  near  the  village,  where 
some  of  these  rude  contests  occiuTed,  when  a  new- 
comer would  leap  from  his  horse  and  make  the  chips 
fly  like  a  whirligig.  As  these  were  days  of  travel  in 
primitive  style,  by  saddle  and  stage,  there  were  many 
public  houses  encouraging  social  drinking  and  treat- 
ing. Loungers  were  always  hanging  around,  and 
neighbors  dropping  in  to  hear  the  news  from  the 
city  or  seat  of  war;  hence  there  was  abundance  of 
idleness  and  dissipation.  On  one  convivial  occasion 
the  revellers  literally  raised  the  roof  of  a  well-known 
tavern,  and  tried  to  tear  it  from  its  place.  But,  as  is 
often  the  case,  these  wild  carousals  were  not  the  work 
of  those  at  home.  They  naturally  attracted  those  of 
like  tastes  from  abroad,  and  these,  feehng  less  re- 
straint, would  go  to  greater  lengths.  One  of  the  old 
men  said  "  the  boys  of  Sugar  Loaf  came  over  to  have 
a  lark  with  the  Monroe  boys,  and  we  had  a  good 
time,  but  we  were  the  hardest  of  the  lot."  Liquor 
was  largely  accountable  for  this  condition  of  things. 
It  was  sold  at  every  corner  grocery.  Their  old  ledgers 
to-day  bear  testimony  to  the  excess  to  which  the 
traffic  was  carried.  The  accounts  of  the  common 
laboring  man  show  how  much  of  his  hard  earnings 
went  for  hquor.  At  first  it  was  rum  which  came  by 
way  of  the  West  Indies.  Whisky  followed  when  the 
orchards  began  to  bear.      There  was  a  still  on  the 


The  Early  Settlement  of  the  Town.  41 

Still  Brook,  near  the  old  village;  but  the  chief 
source  of  supply  was  Blooming  Grove,  where  were 
many  distilleries.  The  brown  jug  and  demijohn  trav- 
elled back  and  forth  on  that  road  around  Pedlar  Hill, 
which  might  account  for  its  crookedness,  and  give  it 
the  name  of  the  "jug-u-lar  vein."  The  late  John 
Brooks,  one  of  the  earliest  advocates  of  total  absti- 
nence, went  over  to  that  town  and  delivered  a  lecture 
on  the  subject.  He  said  they  resented  it  as  an  im- 
pertinence. It  is  well  known  that  neighboring  towns 
were  accustomed  to  look  down  on  the  Clove  and  call 
it  the  "  Kitchen  of  the  County."  It  is  related  that  a 
young  couple  signified  their  intention  to  take  up  a 
tract  of  land  in  Monroe,  rather  than  remain  on  the 
old  homestead,  with  its  fertile  fields.  When  the 
old  folks  could  not  prevail  upon  the  young  couple  to 
change  their  purpose,  they  said :  "  Well,  go  to  the 
Clove  and  Hve  on  rye  bread  the  rest  of  your  hfe." 
It  was  one  of  time's  sweetest  revenges  when  the 
farm  they  took  became  a  model  farm,  and  the  young 
wife  became  the  boasted  bread-baker  whose  wheaten 
loaves  ehcited  the  inquiry :  "  How  do  you  mix  your 
bread  to  have  it  always  hght  ?  "  "I  mix  it  with 
judgment,"  was  her  reply.  We  cite  attention  to  the 
jog  in  the  northwest  boundary  of  the  town.  It  re- 
minds us  of  the  wart  on  the  nose  of  old  Oliver  Crom- 
well, the  Protector,  and,  by  the  way,  progenitor,  if 
we  may  credit  their  tradition,  of  families  of  that  name 
in  Monroe.  The  artist  wanted  to  omit  the  wart  in 
his  portrait,  but  he  forbade  the  omission. 

The    jog  originated  in  a  desire   on  the  part  of 

dwellers  on  the  summit  of  Schunemunk   to  attend 

town  meeting  in  the  more  convenient  valley  on  the 

southeast.     As  soon  as  the  town  was  organized  and 

6 


42         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

requisite  officers  appointed,  the  wheels  of  business 
were  set  in  motion.  The  first  subjects  of  legislation 
were  the  offering  of  bounties  for  the  slaughter  of 
wolves  and  other  predacious  animals  which  infested 
the  wilderness  and  annoyed  the  early  pioneers.  Ear- 
marks were  recognized  to  be  placed  on  stock ;  for  as 
soon  as  swamps  and  forest  were  cleared  herding  and 
stock-raising  were  introduced.  Then  troubles  came 
from  the  herdmen  of  neighboring  towns  allowing 
their  cattle  to  trespass  on  the  newly  cleared  pastur- 
ages ;  to  prevent  which,  stringent  measures  were 
threatened,  if  not  enforced. 

In  such  conditions  of  society,  litigations  would 
naturally  spring  up.  Not  merely  would  there  be  diffi- 
culties concerning  the  ownership  of  stock,  but  trou- 
bles about  boundaries  of  farms  and  wood  lots,  pastures 
and  marshes;  for  these  last  were  most  desirable 
ranges  before  the  plow  and  more  recent  grasses  had 
changed  the  face  of  nature.  But  towering  above 
these  petty  lawsuits,  which  constituted  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  early  settlers,  were  the  disputes  over  the 
Patent  lines.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  lavish 
and  careless  manner  in  which  those  lands  were  given 
to  favorites  by  royalty.  The  same  lands  were  some- 
times given  twice,  the  lines  overlapping.  So  much 
trouble  came  about  the  Evans  Patent  on  the  northeast 
that  the  Patent  had  to  be  recalled.  Troubles  arose 
over  the  Kakiat  Patent  and  the  New  Jersey  State 
line ;  that  commonwealth  claiming  a  gore  line  that  ex- 
tended up  as  far  as  Tuxedo.  Then  the  Wawayanda 
Patent  lines  were  as  indefinite  as  the  Cheesecock. 
Naturally  this  interested  all  along  the  borders,  and 
aroused  such  animosity  that  it  became  a  border  war- 
fare.    Commissioners  were   appointed,  and  through 


Tlie  Early  Settlement  of  the  Toivn.  43 

the  offices  of  Aaron  Burr,  who  sat  with  the  commis- 
sion at  Grreycourt  in  1801  and  helped  settle  the 
question,  the  present  zigzag  line  was  fixed  as  the 
western  boundary  between  Monroe  and  Warwick ; 
while  Carpenter's  Island  in  the  Delaware  was  made 
the  northwest  extremity  of  New  Jersey,  where  it  is 
marked  with  a  monument  which  has  three  sides,  one 
toward  New  York,  another  toward  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  third  toward  New  Jersey.  The  other  extremity 
of  the  last-named  State's  boundary  is  a  bolt  in  a  rock 
on  the  Hudson,  directly  southeast.  The  line  is 
marked  by  monuments  of  square  stone  every  few 
paces. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


WAE  OF   THE  KEVOLUTION. 


BUT,  pending  these  boundary  disputes,  a  more  seri- 
ous question  disturbed  the  pioneers  of  Monroe — 
the  question  of  national  independence.  Before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  the  control  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Hudson  was  regarded  as  a  most  wise 
strategic  measure.  Parhament  ordered  it  kept  open 
to  their  forces,  and  sent  Sir  Henry  Clinton  with  a 
powerful  fleet  to  keep  open  communication  with  Can- 
ada. Congress  also  resolved  upon  measures  for  the 
obstruction  of  the  river  even  as  early  as  1775.  The 
Provincial  Legislature  concurred  and  appointed  a 
secret  commission.  This  latter  suggested  the  erec- 
tion of  forts  at  the  mouth  of  Poplopens  Creek,  and 
the  stretching  of  a  boom  and  chain  across  the  river 
to  Anthony's  Nose.  Forts  Montgomery  and  Chnton 
were  built,  the  latter  being  on  the  south  side  of  the 
creek  and  hence  in  Monroe;  a  chain  was  also  con- 
structed with  a  boom  and  put  in  place  as  suggested. 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  inquire  as  to  the  origin  of 
this  chain.  The  "  Encyclopedia  of  American  Biogra- 
phy "  gives  credit  for  the  construction  of  the  "  famous 
chain  "  over  the  Hudson  to  Samuel  Wheeler,  an  emi- 
nent blacksmith  of  Philadelphia,  who,  it  represents, 

44 


War  of  the  Revolution.  45 

was  recommended  by  General  Mifflin  in  answer  to  an 
express  wish  of  General  Washington  for  a  person  to 
make  such  a  chain.  Mifflin  said  there  was  such  a 
man  in  his  command,  hut  he  could  not  do  the  work 
there,  but  could  at  his  forge  at  Philadelphia.  At  the 
Wecaco  forge,  it  is  said,  the  famous  chain  was  made 
and  transported  across  the  State  of  New  Jersey  and 
up  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson  to  Fort  CUnton, 
where  it,  together  with  a  boom,  was  stretched  across 
the  river  a  half-mile  to  the  promontory  opposite. 
Now  here  are  two  improbabilities  : 

First.  That  an  order  should  be  given  for  such  a 
work  so  far  away,  when  there  were  iron- works  within 
easy  reach :  viz..  Forest  of  Dean,  Stirhng,  New  Wind- 
sor, and  Poughkeepsie. 

Second.  That  such  a  weight  of  iron  in  such 
shape  should  be  exposed  to  the  risk  of  passing  the 
enemy's  lines  —  a  risk  greatly  enhanced  by  the  vigi- 
lance of  Tory  spies  and  cowboys  all  along  the  route. 
It  could  have  weighed  scarcely  less  than  150  tons. 
It  would  have  taken  fifty  ox-teams  upwards  of  five 
days  to  accomplish  it. 

We  get  a  clue  to  the  construction  of  that  chain  in 
Colonel  Boynton's  "  History  of  West  Point."  He  tells 
us  that  a  part  of  it  was  sent  from  Lake  Champlain, 
where  it  had  been  used  to  obstruct  the  river  Sorel. 
The  balance  was  made  at  the  Kemble  forge,  of  iron 
from  the  mines  of  Livingston  Manor.  Thence  it  was 
floated  down  and  stretched  across  the  river  from  the 
mouth  of  the  creek  that  separated  Forts  Montgomery 
and  Clinton. 

These  forts  were  under  command  of  Governor 
George  and  General  James  Clinton.  The  garrison 
consisted  of   about    600,  mostly  untrained    militia. 


46         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

They  were  the  yeomanry  of  the  neighborhood,  who 
were  mustered  as  minute-men  to  defend  their  own 
mountain  citadels.  When  the  exigencies  of  home  or 
harvest  required,  they  were  permitted  to  exchange 
the  sword  for  the  plowshare.  A  system  of  beacons 
and  signal-fires  was  agreed  upon  to  call  these  brave 
men  to  their  post,  and  the  moment  they  saw  the 
signal  on  yonder  hills,  leaving  plow  in  mid-furrow 
and  bidding  adieu  to  those  at  home,  shouldering  gun 
and  knapsack,  they  joined  the  hardy  band  ascending 
the  mountain  path. 

In  October,  1777,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  manoeuvered 
his  fleet  and  forces  so  as  to  deceive  General  Putnam. 
Not  so  Grovernor  Chnton,  who  hastily  adjourned  the 
legislature,  mustered  the  militia,  and  occupied  the 
two  forts  just  mentioned.  The  crafty  Briton  landed 
his  forces  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  then  hastily 
transported  them  across  to  Stony  Point,  where  he 
landed  about  4000  men.  At  daybreak  on  October 
6,  the  advance-guard,  consisting  of  500  regulars 
and  400  Tories,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Campbell, 
marched  around  Dimderberg  to  the  foot  of  Bear 
Mountain;  while  the  main  column  of  1200,  under 
General  Vaughan,  moved  to  a  position  on  the  right. 
General  Tryon,  with  the  rear-guard,  remained  in  a 
valley  where  the  force  separated.  A  small  force  was 
sent  out  from  the  forts  to  meet  the  enemy  with  a 
single  cannon,  but  were  easily  dispersed.  Campbell's 
advance  attacked  Fort  Montgomery  on  the  rear,  and 
Vaughan  swept  down  on  Fort  Clinton.  The  resist- 
ance was  of  the  bravest  character ;  but  the  garrison 
was  not  sufficient  to  guard  such  long  lines  of  defense. 
Surrender  was  refused,  whereupon  a  bloody  scene 
occurred.     Some  prisoners  were  taken,  but,  hopeless 


War  of  the  Revolution.  47 

of  resisting  sucli  an  overwhelming  force,  the  re- 
mainder escaped  and  made  their  way  to  the  camp  at 
New  Windsor.  Among  those  who  escaped  were  the 
governor  and  his  brother  James  Chnton,  the  latter 
wounded  by  a  bayonet.  The  attacking  force  lost  few 
men,  among  whom,  however,  was  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Campbell. 

Another  memorable  hero  of  that  engagement  was 
Colonel  Wilham  Allison,  ancestor  of  Monroe  fami- 
lies. He  was  commander  of  the  Groshen  regiment, 
sharing  that  honor  with  Colonel  Tusten,  and  taking 
command  alternately.  It  was  Colonel  Tusten's  turn 
when  the  battle  of  Minisink  was  fought,  where  he 
fell.  But  it  was  Colonel  Allison's  turn  when  the 
Enghsh  moved  to  attack  Fort  Montgomery.  His  aids 
were  Captains  WoodhuU,  Tuthill,  and  his  own  son 
Lieutenant  Micah  Allison.  When  it  was  known  that 
the  British  troops  were  moving  up  the  river,  he 
threw  out  the  signals  to  summon  the  yeomanry  from 
the  surrounding  country,  among  whom  were  the 
minute-men  of  Monroe.  In  the  fierce  conflict  that 
ensued  Colonel  William  Allison  was  among  the  hun- 
dred or  more  prisoners  taken,  who  were  imprisoned 
some  in  the  old  sugar-house,  others  upon  a  prison 
ship,  the  horrors  of  which  will  never  be  forgotten. 
Which  was  the  place  of  the  colonel's  confinement 
does  not  appear,  but  a  letter  is  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
C.  B.  Knight,  written  from  Long  Island  while  he  was 
a  prisoner  under  parole.  A  commission  is  also  in 
existence  making  him  brigadier-general,  signed  by 
Grovernor  G-eorge  Clinton,  and  dated  1782,  a  facsim- 
ile of  which  is  in  the  history  of  the  Alhson  family. 
His  son  Lieutenant  Allison  was  among  the  killed, 
and  no    doubt  was  cast  with  the  rest  in   a   small 


48         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

pond  in  the  town  of  Monroe,  and  close  at  hand,  where 
then-  remains  presented  a  most  pitiful  spectacle  and 
illustration  of  the  horrors  of  war.  We  may  state  in 
passing  that  Colonel  Allison  had  two  daughters, 
Mary  and  Sarah.  The  former  was  married  to  Dr. 
"William  Elmer  and  the  latter  to  Sheriff  W.  D. 
Thompson.  Dr.  Elmer,  of  Monroe,  traces  his  de- 
scent from  the  former,  and  Mrs.  Chauncey  B.  Knight 
from  the  latter.  The  Allisons  of  Chester  spring 
from  a  collateral  branch.  After  the  engagement  the 
chain  was  taken  up  by  the  enemy,  a  garrison  was 
placed  in  the  forts,  and  the  name  of  Fort  Clinton  was 
changed  to  Fort  Vaughan.  The  British  commander 
then  sailed  up  the  river  to  Kingston,  which  he 
burned.  But,  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  Burgoyne, 
he  beat  a  hasty  retreat  down  the  river,  withdrawing 
all  his  forces  from  the  fastnesses  of  the  Highlands. 

Soon  occurs  another  incident  of  interest  to  the 
denizens  qf  this  old  town.  We  refer  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  second  chain.  The  importance  of  ob- 
structing the  river  became  still  more  apparent  now, 
because  of  the  ease  with  which  the  enemy's  fleet  had 
passed  the  former  obstructions  and  the  havoc  that 
had  been  made  with  mills,  towns  and  forts,  so  that 
Albany  was  the  only  city  Ijring  between  them  and 
Canada.  It  was  apparent,  also,  that  more  formidable 
means  must  be  devised.  General  Hughes  first  wrote 
to  General  Gates,  November,  1777,  stating  that  he, 
with  the  Clintons  and  an  engineer,  had  visited  the 
fortifications  on  the  river,  and  had  decided  that  forts 
be  erected  at  "  the  West  Point,"  and  that  a  chain  and 
chevaux  de  frise  be  stretched  across  to  Constitution 
Island.  It  was  followed  by  a  correspondence  between 
Governor  Clinton  and  Generals  Gates,  Putnam  and 


War  of  the  Revolution.  49 

the  commander-in-chief.  The  last  so  emphasized  the 
necessity  as  to  pronounce  it  of  infinite  importance. 
Accordingly  measures  were  taken  to  fortify  West 
Point,  and  that  was  selected  as  the  place  best  fitted 
to  stretch  a  chain  and  boom,  because  the  river  was 
narrowest  at  that  point  and  could  be  swept  by  artil- 
lery on  the  shore.  And  still  further  it  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  situated  at  a  sharp  bend  of  the  river 
where  the  vessels  would  lose  the  wind  and  their 
momentum,  and  be  compelled  to  tack.  Radiere  was 
designated  to  engineer  the  fortifications  and  Deputy 
Quartermaster-Greneral  Hugh  Hughes  to  superintend 
the  chain. 

General  Putnam,  who  had  command,  in  a  letter  to 
Greneral  Washington  referred  to  the  former  chain  as 
made  of  "  bad  iron."  With  this  hint,  General  Hughes 
repaired  to  the  firm  of  Noble,  Townsend  &  Co.,  whose 
iron- works  were  situated  at  Stirhng,  on  a  lake  of  the 
same  name,  just  over  the  border  of  Monroe  in  the 
town  of  Warwick.  This  extensive  plant  consisted  of 
23,000  acres  of  land,  a  furnace,  forge  and  anchory. 
These  were  established  in  1752,  before  the  foundation 
of  the  government,  and  had  the  honor  of  making  the 
anchors  for  the  first  United  States  frigate.  Deputy 
Quartermaster-General  Hugh  Hughes  visited  Stirling 
February  2,  1778.  The  traditions  of  the  Townsend 
family  are  that  the  visit  was  made  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing and  the  visitor  arrived  in  a  heavy  snow-storm. 
The  order  was  given  and  the  work  instantly  started. 
Articles  of  agreement  were  drawn,  in  which  the  said 
Noble,  Townsend  &  Co.  agree  to  furnish,  on  or  before 
April  1  ensuing,  a  chain,  an  iron  chain  *  of  the  f  ollow- 

*  The  links  of  the  chain,  as  seen  at  Glen  Island,  N.  Y.,  measure  45  inches 
in  length,  12  inches  in  breadth,  the  bar  iron  being  4:%  inches  square. 

7 


50         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

ing  length  and  quality :  that  is,  in  length  five  hundred 
yards,  each  hnk  to  be  about  two  feet  long,  of  the 
best  Stirling  ii*on,  two  inches  and  one  quarter  square, 
or  as  near  thereto  as  possible,  with  a  swivel  to  every 
hundred  feet,  and  a  clevis  to  every  thousand  feet,  in 
the  same  manner  as  those  of  the  former  chain. 
Twelve  tons  of  anchors  of  sizes  needed  were  in- 
cluded. For  this  work  the  United  States  government 
stipulated,  through  its  agent,  to  pay  at  the  rate  of 
forty  pounds  for  every  ton  delivered.  In  case  there 
should  occur  some  variation  in  the  value  of  the 
money,  they  were  to  be  paid  400  pounds  sterhng  for 
the  chain.  For  six  weeks,  night  and  day,  seven  fires 
were  kept  at  forging  and  ten  at  welding.  Sixty  men 
were  granted  furlough  from  the  army  to  assist  in  the 
work.  The  work  was  completed  within  the  time 
contracted  for.  The  chain  was  divided  into  sections 
of  ten  links  each,  loaded  on  ox-carts  and  hauled  to 
New  Windsor,  where  it  was  dehvered  to  Captain 
Machin  to  be  put  together  at  his  forge,  thirty  miles 
from  Stirling,  but  the  roads  part  of  the  way  were 
doubtless  very  rough.  Besides,  the  weight  of  the 
chain,  which  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  tons, 
made  the  task  of  transportation  a  formidable  one. 
From  the  bill  of  Captain  Machin  it  consisted  of  iron 
''wrought  into  booms,  bolts,  chains,  swivels  and 
bands."  The  several  parts  were  put  together  and 
floated  down  the  river;  the  boom  on  April  7,  the 
chain  on  the  16th,  and  all  was  in  place  on  the  30th. 
General  Heath,  who  properly  belongs  to  Monroe, 
wrote  a  description  of  the  chain  and  its  adjustment ; 
stating  that  it  was  fastened  to  poles  about  sixteen  feet 
long,  sharpened  at  the  end,  with  a  collar  cut  in  the 
middle,  and  secured  to  the  chain  by  staples.    Anchors 


War  of  the  Revolution.  51 

were  fastened  at  proper  distances  to  keep  it  from 
swaying,  and  great  bolts  held  it  to  the  rocks  at  either 
end.  He  says  the  chain  was  fixed  with  great  dex- 
terity by  280  men,  without  accident.  The  boom  was 
placed  in  front,  and  consisted  of  logs  put  together 
with  lighter  links  and  placed  horizontally,  so  as  to 
break  the  force  of  a  sailing  vessel  before  it  could 
reach  the  chain.  According  to  this  same  wi-iter,  it  is 
evident  that  the  structure  was  swung  around  in  the 
winter,  to  protect  it  from  injury  by  the  ice.  Now  this 
was  the  chain  that  General  Arnold  was  said  to  have 
weakened,  by  removing  a  link,  at  the  time  of  his  at- 
tempt to  betray  West  Point  into  the  hands  of  Major 
Andre.  But  how  he  could  have  removed  it  for  pre- 
tended need  of  repair,  without  suspicion  and  without 
destroying  its  integrity,  no  one  can  divine.  Of  his 
treachery,  however,  there  is  no  question. 

Benedict  Arnold  had  been  a  very  brave  officer,  and 
for  valuable  services  had  received  many  honors.  But 
some  disappointments  had  soured  his  temper  and  un- 
dermined his  patriotism.  The  temptation  was  pre- 
sented and  the  opportunity  came.  Sir  Henry  Clinton 
wanted  West  Point,  the  Gibraltar  of  America,  and 
conceived  the  idea  of  resorting  to  bribery,  the  force 
of  arms  having  failed.  The  time  was  favorable. 
Both  sides  were  weary  of  the  strife.  Congress  was 
divided ;  the  treasury  empty  ;  the  money  depreciated ; 
the  brave  men  unpaid.  A  deep  cloud  rested  on  the 
cause,  which  even  the  aid  of  France  did  but  partially 
alleviate.  Then  it  was  Arnold  opened  a  secret  cor- 
respondence with  Major  Andre,  Adjutant-General  of 
the  British  army.  The  former  wrote  under  the  name 
of  Gustavus ;  the  latter  under  that  of  John  Ander- 
son.    It  was  discovered  that  Gustavus  was  no  less 


52         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

than  tlie  distinguished  commander  of  West  Point,  to 
which  post  he  managed  to  secure  his  appointment  in 
order  to  carry  out  his  traitorous  scheme.  Arnold 
made  his  headquarters  at  the  Beverly  Robinson 
House,  which  stands  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
about  two  miles  south  of  West  Point.  In  Arnold's 
letter  of  August  30, 1780,  the  transaction  is  attempted 
to  be  disguised  under  the  guise  of  a  business  venture 
in  tobacco  to  be  exchanged  for  ready  money;  but 
some  difference  in  regard  to  the  goods,  and  delay  in 
obtaining  the  kind,  would  postpone  the  arrangement 
some  days.  The  money  for  which  this  Judas  was  to 
betray  his  country,  according  to  this  letter,  was  300 
pounds  sterling.  After  a  number  of  notes  it  was  ar- 
ranged that  Arnold  should  meet  Anderson  at  Dobbs 
Ferry ;  but  a  strange  course  of  Providence  frustrated 
the  plan.  Nothing  daunted,  Arnold  laid  another 
plan,  which  came  near  succeeding.  Anderson,  or 
Andre,  with  Robinson,  sailed  up  the  river  in  the 
British  ship  Vulture^  to  a  point  near  the  house  of 
Joshua  Hett  Smith,  which  is  still  standing,  situate 
two  miles  from  Stony  Point.  This  Smith  was  son 
of  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Cheesecock  Pat- 
ent. He  was  a  man  of  education  and  refinement, 
hospitable,  and  largely  trusted  by  the  officers  in  the 
patriot  army. 

According  to  his  journal,  he  had  a  brother  in  the 
Clove  who  lived  about  three  miles  from  the  pubhc 
road.  This  brother  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
father,  Claudius  Smith,  the  famous  cowboy.  How- 
ever this  may  have  been,  certain  it  is,  both  were  in 
sympathy  in  their  opposition  to  the  cause  of  inde- 
pendence. Their  methods  were  very  diverse,  but  the 
animus  was  the  same. 


War  of  the  Revolution.  53 

The  house  of  Joshua  Hett  Smith  was  chosen  for 
the  trysting-place  of  the  conspirators.  Robinson 
wrote  to  Arnold,  under  pretext  of  anxiety  about  his 
property,  arranging  the  meeting.  Washington  came 
with  his  staff  to  King's  Ferry,  met  Arnold,  who  talked 
about  the  Vulture,  which  was  in  sight,  and  also  showed 
Robinson's  letter.  The  commander  frowned  on  the 
proposal ;  yet  the  traitor  took  not  the  warning,  but 
rushed  on  his  fate.  After  a  futile  attempt  to  meet 
Andre  at  Dobbs  Ferry,  he  succeeded  in  his  scheme 
on  the  night  of  September  21, 1779.  Smith  had  sent 
his  family  to  Fishkill.  Then,  with  two  of  his  ten- 
ants as  boatmen,  with  muffled  oars  he  was  rowed  to 
the  Vulture.  Meanwhile  Arnold,  with  Smith's  negro 
servant,  both  on  horseback,  rode  to  a  clump  of  fir 
trees,  about  two  miles  distant  on  the  shore.  Smith 
brought  Andre  to  the  spot,  and  here  the  two  plotted 
till  daybreak.  Afraid  of  detection,  the  boatmen  re- 
fused to  convey  the  British  officer  to  his  ship  ;  hence 
he  and  Arnold  were  compelled  to  seek  concealment 
in  Smith's  house.  After  breakfast  the  firing  of  artil- 
lery was  heard  from  the  shore  opposite,  and  from  the 
window  the  Vulture  was  seen  to  swing  out  and  drop 
down  the  river.  The  plotters  remained  in  conceal- 
ment and  close  confinement  all  day.  At  evening 
Arnold  returned  in  his  barge  to  the  Robinson  House, 
while  Smith  and  Andre  crossed  to  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  to  try  and  reach  New  York.  Smith  parted 
from  him  on  the  first  night  and  joined  his  family  at 
Fishkill.  Andre  took  the  river  road,  disguised  in  the 
clothes  of  Smith.  When  about  a  half-mile  from 
Tarrytown  three  brave  pickets  sprang  out  upon  him 
and  ordered  him  to  halt.  Upon  careful  search  of  his 
person,  they  found  documents,  in  Arnold's  handwrit- 


54         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

ing,  giving  full  details  of  the  disposition  of  forces 
about  West  Point.  Neither  persuasion  nor  money 
moved  his  brave  captors.  The  commander  of  the 
post  was  incUned  to  send  the  papers  and  prisoner  to 
Arnold;  but  by  a  strange  dispensation  of  Providence 
the  letter  failed  to  reach  the  hands  of  Arnold,  who 
was  quietly  awaiting  developments.  Meanwhile  Wash- 
ington was  on  his  way  from  Hartford  to  meet  Eocham- 
beau.  He  spent  Sunday  evening  with  Joshua  Hett 
Smith's  family  at  Fishkill,  and  rode  in  the  morning  to 
the  Robinson  House  to  breakfast  with  General  Arnold 
and  his  family.  While  seated  at  table  with  his  host 
and  his  family,  a  messenger  arrived  with  the  missing 
note  to  Arnold.  With  coolness  he  arose  with  an 
apology,  and  repaired  to  one  of  the  chambers,  in- 
formed his  wife  of  his  misfortune,  kissed  his  sleeping 
infant,  and  left  the  house  suddenly,  as  if  to  cross  by 
his  barge  to  his  post ;  but  instead  he  was  rowed  by 
his  boatswain  to  the  Vulture,  which  was  at  anchor 
below.  Washington  was  surprised  that  he  had  not 
been  at  the  Point,  and  crossed  to  the  Robinson 
House,  where  Lafayette  and  Knox  handed  him  the 
papers  concerning  Andre.  Convinced  of  Arnold's 
treachery,  he  exclaimed,"  Who,  then,  can  we  trust  ?  " 
That  night  every  garrison  and  picket  was  put  on  the 
alert.  Joshua  Hett  Smith  was  arrested,  and,  together 
with  Andre,  was  confined  at  West  Point.  Both  were 
sent  to  Tappan  and  tried.  Smith  was  handed  over 
to  the  civil  authorities,  but  Andre  was  condemned  to 
be  executed  as  a  spy.  While  his  candor  and  amia- 
bility commended  him  to  the  mercy  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, who  would  gladly  have  spared  him, 
yet  the  condition  of  the  army  and  the  country  con- 
stituted the  military  necessity  that  seemed  to  demand 


War  of  the  Revolution.  55 

the  execution  of  this  truly  brave  officer.  He  was 
executed  at  Tappan,  on  October  2,  1780. 

Smith  was  sent  to  Goshen  and  confined  in  the  jail ; 
but  afterward  escaped,  went  to  England,  returned, 
and  died  in  New  York. 

Arnold  also  fled  to  England.  He  was  seen  after- 
wards by  an  American  party,  to  whom  an  English- 
man said :  "  He  is  the  only  American  who  has  not  a 
friend  in  his  own  native  land." 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE   STORY   OF   CLAUDIUS   SMITH. 

NOW  while  these  events  were  occurring  in  the 
Highlands,  against  the  dark  background  was 
projected  another  figure  that  did  not  lend  one  re- 
heving  tint  or  hne.  We  refer  to  Claudius  Smith,  the 
notorious  cowboy.  That  title  was  apphed  to  ma- 
rauders who  robbed  farmers  and  others  of  their  stock 
and  valuables,  and  drove  the  former  to  the  British 
headquarters,  at  this  time  at  New  York.  They 
worked  in  gangs  and  robbed  the  loyal  Americans  far 
and  near.  The  valley  of  the  Ramapo  was  theii'  favor- 
ite stalking-ground,  because  of  its  lonely  solitudes 
and  caves.  Now  Claudius  was  the  Robin  Hood  of 
this  gang.  He  was  of  English  parentage,  coming 
into  Monroe  from  Southold,  L.  I.,  with  his  father.  It 
is  supposed  that  he  was  related  to  Joshua  Hett 
Smith,  of  whom  we  have  been  writing.  His  father, 
David  Smith,  lived  off  the  village  road,  on  what  has 
been  known  as  the  John  Goff  place.  His  wife  is  said 
to  have  been  Jerusha  Rumsey;  and  whatever  may 
have  been  her  pohtical  sympathies,  she  shows  her 
disapproval  of  her  son's  career  in  his  quotation  of 
her  words  on  the  gallows,  when  he  kicked  off  his 
shoes :  "  Claudius,  you  will  die   some   day  Hke  the 

56 


1 


The  Story  of  Claudius  Smith.  57 

trooper's  horse."  His  father  was  buried  in  the  old 
part  of  the  cemetery  on  the  lane,  and  on  the  old  red 
tombstone  are  inscribed  these  lines  : 


"  Here  lies  the  body  of  David  Smith 

"  Esq'r  whose  alms  he 

"  has  Dispersed  abroad  his 

"  works  and  faith  is  still  before  his  God  his  name 

"  Shall  Long  on  earth  remain 

^'  while  envies  Sinners  freat  in  vain 

"  My  advice  is  to  both  Old  and  Young 

"  to  make  their  calling  and  Election 

''  sure  and  to  work  out  their  own 

"  Salvation  with  fear  and  trembling* 

"  the  Deceased  composed  this 

"  work  some  time  before  his  Death  " 

Born  in  April  15  in  the  Year  of 

1701  Died  in  Year  1787 

The  above  is  a  facsimile  of  this  quaint  epitaph,  for 
the  elucidation  of  which  we  are  indebted  to  a  friend 
who  to  the  zeal  for  the  "  ancient  past "  in  Monroe 
adds  the  patience  of  Old  Mortality.  He  says  the 
capital  letters  and  spelling  are  exactly  the  same  as 
on  the  tombstone.  It  is  interesting  as  a  sample  of 
the  learning  of  the  day  and  the  orthodoxy  of  the  old 
man.  The  allusion  to  his  "alms  Dispersed  abroad" 
savors  of  the  trumpet  of  the  Pharisee.  But  we  for- 
bear, lest  we  should  be  classed  with  "  envies  Sinners  " 
who  "  freat  in  vain." 

As  the  son  of  such  a  father,  better  things  might 
have  been  expected  of  Claudius.  But  his  environ- 
ment was  one  of  lawlessness.  Then  he  embraced  the 
Tory  principle  of  resistance  of  the  will  of  the  people 
as  expressed  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence ; 
adhering  like  many  others  to  the  cause  of  the  so- 
8 


58         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

called  "good  King  George."  While  the  patriots 
were  fighting  for  liberty  with  Briton  and  his  Indian 
allies,  Claudius  and  his  gang  were  raiding  their 
farms  and  homes  in  the  Clove.  He  was  a  man  of 
stalwart  frame,  and  proud  of  his  stature  and  strength. 
On  some  pubhc  occasion,  said  the  late  J.  Harvey  Bull, 
he  boastfully  said,  "  Here  I  stand  like  a  pillar  of  old 
St.  Paul's  Church,  and  I  defy  any  man  to  move  me." 
Whereupon  Ben  Havens  replied,  "  I  will  remove  the 
pillar  with  my  sledge-hammer  fist,"  suiting  the  action 
to  the  word.  Claudius  lived  in  a  cabin  made  of 
plank  set  perpendicular  and  hidden  in  the  brush  that 
skirted  the  roads  that  crossed  opposite  to  Cunning- 
ham's mill  and  what  afterwards  was  the  late  John 
Knight's  garden.  Part  of  the  foundation  was  plowed 
up  by  the  latter,  and  bits  of  crockery  were  found.  It 
was  a  suitable  den  for  the  laying  of  his  plots  and  mak- 
ing his  forays  upon  the  neighborhood  and  hiding  his 
plunder.  Other  lawless  characters  joined  his  gang, 
and  with  them  those  who  claimed  to  be  loyalists 
sympathized  and  lent  their  aid.  He  had  three  sons 
who  inherited  his  cruelty  and  became  his  confeder- 
ates in  crime.  These  rough  outlaws  would  rob  their 
neighbors  of  their  cattle  and  drive  them  down  the 
Ramapo  valley  to  Suffern,  where  they  would  dis- 
pose of  them  to  the  British  army  whose  outposts 
were  established  there.  Hence  they  were  called  cow- 
boys. But  they  were  not  content  to  rob  from  the 
fields,  but  broke  into  dwellings  at  night  or  while  the 
men  were  absent  on  military  duty,  terrified  the  women, 
and  stole  food  or  money  if  they  could  find  it.  Some 
of  his  apologists  have  asserted  he  stole  from  the  rich 
and  gave  to  the  poor.  But  it  is  characteristic  of 
that  class  of  villains  that  they  try  thus  to  atone  for 


The  Story  of  Claiidlus  Smith.  59 

their  Heaven-daring  crimes.  Even  Captain  Kidd  was 
"  the  gentlest  man  that  ever  cut  a  throat  or  scuttled 
ship." 

The  rough  nature  of  the  country  favored  these 
marauders.  The  mountains,  and  specially  the  Rama- 
po,  were  full  of  caves  and  dens  where  they  could  con- 
ceal both  themselves  and  their  plunder.  There  was 
such  a  cave  near  Man-of-War  Rock ;  another,  near 
Indian  Kill,  which  the  daughters  of  the  late  Peter 
Townsend  called  Libalcad,  composed  of  the  initial 
syllables  of  their  respective  names.  Another  hiding- 
place  was  somewhere  between  Monroe  and  Blooming 
Grove.  The  flues  of  the  old  Elmer  Earl  House  were 
another  place  of  concealment.  Here  in  later  years  a 
mechanic  was  driven  to  madness  by  the  cruel  joke  of 
companions,  who  hoisted  a  pumpkin  cut  to  represent 
the  face  of  the  outlaw  and  illuminated  by  a  candle, 
after  the  young  man  had  retired  for  sleep. 

Claudius  displayed  great  cunning  and  adroitness  in 
his  depredations.  Like  Ishmael, "  his  hand  was  against 
every  man  and  every  man's  hand  against  him."  Some- 
times he  would  seek  to  cripple  a  neighbor,  perhaps 
on  some  petty  pretext,  as  when  he  carried  off  the  still- 
cap  from  the  distillery  of  Mr.  Bell  on  the  Still  Brook. 
Again,  he  would  break  in  on  the  slumbers  of  some 
family  whose  head  was  absent  in  the  trenches,  insult 
the  women,  and  rob  the  house  of  food  or  treasure  and 
carry  off  poultry  or  cattle,  as  his  fancy  or  need  dic- 
tated. When  he  had  gathered  a  sufficient  number  of 
cattle  and  sheep  in  one  of  his  hiding-places,  in  the 
shadows  of  evening  he  would  drive  them  down  the 
Ramapo  pass  to  Suffern,  where  the  British  army  had 
its  outposts.  He  and  his  band  would  skulk  back 
again  and  spend  the  proceeds  in  some  of  his  dens,  the 


60         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

caves  or  cabins  of  confederates,  in  revelry  and  feast- 
ing. But  snch  a  career  could  not  continue  long.  His 
very  success  in  crime  encouraged  him  to  greater 
deeds  of  cruelty.  While  making  a  raid  in  Blooming 
Grove  with  his  band,  he  entered  the  house  of  Major 
Nathanael  Strong ;  and  when  that  brave  soldier  re- 
sisted the  ruffian,  Claudius  deliberately  shot  him. 
This  was  the  culmination  of  his  career.  The  crime 
enraged  the  community,  and  led  Governor  Clinton  to 
put  a  price  on  his  head.  He  now  became  an  outlaw, 
and  was  hunted  down  like  a  wolf.  His  brothers  and 
companions  were  included  in  the  same  ban.  He  was 
hunted  out  of  the  country,  fleeing  to  Long  Island, 
hiding  away  where  he  thought  himself  unknown. 
But  the  feet  of  an  avenging  Nemesis  were  soon  on  his 
track.  Major  Brush,  of  Orange  County,  hearing  of 
his  hiding-place,  raised  a  band  and  found  him  at  Oys- 
ter Bay,  where  he  arrested  him,  took  him  over  to  Con- 
necticut, from  whence,  by  a  requisition  from  Governor 
Clinton,  he  was  brought  and  dehvered  to  the  sheriff 
of  Orange  County,  at  Goshen,  who  ordered  him 
chained  to  the  floor  of  the  jail  for  safe-keeping.  He 
was  afterwards  tried  at  the  com't-house  at  Goshen, 
January  13,  1779,  and  executed  on  the  22d,  with  five 
of  his  companions.  It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  a 
sermon  was  preached  at  the  scaffold  by  the  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Rev.  Ezra  Fisk,  D.D.,  in 
the  presence  of  50,000  spectators.  His  text  was 
Numbers  xxxii,  23 :  "Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you 
out." 

The  sermon  was  very  solemn,  and  from  the  unu- 
sual circumstances  was  calculated  to  make  an  indeh- 
ble  impression.  He  was  buried  in  the  grounds  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  southwest  corner,  that 


The  Story  of  Claudius  Smith.  61 

being  regarded  as  a  sort  of  public  property.  Within 
the  memory  of  some  hving,  a  citizen  of  Groshen  who 
was  lame  and  walked  with  a  crutch  broke  through, 
his  crutch  or  cane  penetrating  the  neglected  grave. 
This  led  to  the  taking  up  of  the  bones,  which  were 
stowed  in  a  shop  near  by.  My  informant  relates  that 
a  citizen  applied  to  a  well-known  blacksmith  to  make 
him  a  carving-knife.  The  knife  was  made,  but  he 
had  no  buckhorn  for  a  handle.  A  happy  thought 
struck  him.  He  went  to  the  spot  where  the  bones 
of  the  famous  marauder  lay  neglected,  and  took  a 
thigh  bone  and  worked  out  a  handle  for  the  carving- 
knife.  A  startling  instance  of  poetical  irony!  Vig- 
orous means  were  taken  to  exterminate  the  gang  after 
Claudius'  death.  One  of  his  followers  was  shot  on 
Schunemunk;  one  left  his  bones  whitening  over  on 
the  East  Mountain,  above  the  Ramapo.  His  son 
Richard  fled  to  Nova  Scotia. 

Efforts  were  made  by  the  credulous  to  find  the 
treasure  of  the  robber;  but,  hke  that  of  Captain  Kidd, 
it  never  materialized.  Indeed  the  people  had  nothing 
but  Continental  money,  and  but  little  of  that.  To 
illustrate  its  depreciation,  it  is  related  that  one  of  the 
farmers  sold  a  cosset  lamb  about  this  time  for  500 
Continental  dollars  to  a  foraging  party. 

The  disorder  and  terrorism  caused  by  Tory  and 
cowboy  led  the  commander-in-chief  to  send  detach- 
ments from  the  army  to  guard  the  roads  through  the 
Clove.  A  cavalry  camp  was  established  at  Highland 
Mills,  on  the  Morgan  Shuitt  farm;  another  at  Monroe, 
near  the  bridge,  on  the  D.  Knight  property.  It  was 
on  the  west  side  of  the  stage  road,  the  second  lot 
from  the  homestead  now  the  residence  of  Clarence 
Knight, 


62         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

The  following  are  the  epitaphs  of  two  noted  Revo- 
lutionary attaches  buried  near  Ringwood,  New  Jersey, 
in  the  Ramapo  Valley  : 

In  Memory  of 

ROBERT  ERSKINE,   F.  R.  S. 

geographer  and  surveyor-general  to  the  army  of 

The  United  States. 

Son  of  the  Rev.  Ralph  Erskine 

Late  Minister  at  Dumfernline  in  Scotland. 

born 

September  7,  1735. 

died 

October  2nd,  1780. 

Aged  45  Years 

And  25  Days. 

In  Memory  of 

ROBERT  MONTEITH 

Clerk  to  Robert  Erskine,  Esq. 

born 
At  Dumfernline  in  Scotland, 
died 
December  2nd,  1778,  Aged  33  Years. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Mahlon  J.  Brooks  for  these 
inscriptions.  He  says  that  the  graves  are  side  by 
side.  The  stones  are  laid  flat,  on  brick-work  about 
two  feet  high,  covering  the  whole  grave.  The  letter- 
ing of  the  two  stones  is  very  plain,  except  the  names 
of  the  two  places  in  Scotland. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE   DAWN   OF   PEACE. 


AFTER  such  a  storm  there  is  always  a  ground 
-^jL  swell.  It  was  some  time  before  the  bitter  feel- 
ings engendered  by  the  contest  were  allayed.  We 
must  not  forget  that  the  War  of  the  Revolution  was 
really  a  civil  war.  It  occurred  among  subjects  of  the 
same  government,  and  was  a  movement  to  throw  off 
allegiance  to  a  king  and  set  up  a  new  form  of  govern- 
ment. Such  a  radical  question  not  merely  separated 
neighbors,  but  divided  families.  It  became  an  inter- 
necine war,  and  that  is  proverbially  bitter.  The 
cruelty  of  it  is  illustrated  by  the  career  of  Clau- 
dius Smith.  Now  even  this  had  a  sequel  after  he 
was  executed.  Some  of  the  gang  who  had  been  in 
hiding  determined  to  avenge  on  neighbors  their 
leader's  death.  They  selected  Henry  Reynolds,  a 
Friend,  as  the  object  of  their  vengeance,  because  he 
had  been  active  in  giving  information  against  him. 
He  Hved  in  the  stone  house  now  standing  by  the 
brook  on  the  Gignoux  place. 

They  came  at  midnight  and  surrounded  the  house, 
which  the  inmates  barred.  Finding  they  could  not  break 
in,  they  climbed  on  the  roof  and  tried  to  descend  the 
chimney.  But  one  of  the  ladies  opened  a  pillow  and 
poured  the  feathers  on  the  fire,  which  was  too  much 

63 


64         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

for  them.  They  then  retired,  but  returned  again 
when  Mr.  Reynolds  was  at  home.  They  entered,  pre- 
tending they  were  commissioned  to  look  for  deserters. 
They  took  Mr.  Reynolds,  tied  him  to  the  lug  pole, 
and  hung  him  in  the  chimney  while  they  searched  for 
treasure.  But  his  daughter  Phoebe  cut  him  down. 
Then  they  caught  him  again  and  suspended  him. 
They  also  cut  him  with  their  swords  and  knives,  leav- 
ing him  for  dead.  His  daughter  cut  him  down  again, 
and,  assisted  by  other  members  of  the  family,  dressed 
his  wounds  and  saved  his  hfe.  He  hved  to  a  good 
old  age  (eighty-three  years),  and  showed  his  scars  as 
honorable  mementos  of  the  encounter.  The  plucky 
daughter  also  gave  the  alarm  to  the  neighbors,  who 
pursued  the  miscreants,  wounding  one  and  shooting 
another.  One,  named  Kelley,  was  found  dead  on  East 
Mountain,  and  on  him  were  the  clothes  of  Friend 
Reynolds. 

The  brave  daughter  Phoebe  was  married  afterwards 
to  Jeremiah  Drake  and  removed  to  Sullivan  County, 
where  she  reared  a  family,  and  is  mentioned,  with  an 
account  of  her  adventures  with  great  interest,  in 
Quinlan's  "  History  "  of  that  county. 

The  proclamation  of  peace  was  hailed  by  every  true 
patriot  and  reflecting  mind  with  sincere  joy.  It  is 
recorded  of  Peter  Townsend,  then  a  young  man,  that 
he  rode  on  horseback  all  the  way  to  New  York  to  see 
the  British  fleet  evacuate  the  harbor.  Warm  wel- 
comes awaited  the  return  of  the  brave  soldiers 
to  their  homes.  But  these  they  did  not  find  in  a 
prosperous  condition.  Buildings  had  been  burned, 
cattle  stolen,  fences  thrown  down,  and  fields  and 
gardens  overgrown  with  brush  and  weeds.  But  the 
Anglo-Saxon  is  not  one  who  sits  down  in  despair, 


Tlie  Dawn  of  Peace.  65 

but  lias  wonderful  recuperative  energy.  He  betakes 
himself  at  once  to  rebuild.  He  starts  again  the  plow. 
His  axe  rings  through  the  forest.  He  lays  out  new 
roads  and  projects  new  enterprises,  looking  with  hope 
for  their  realization  in  the  future.  He  has  had 
enough  of  war  and  ruffianism.  He  believes  in  the 
regeneration  of  society,  encourages  home  building, 
immigration,  the  setting  up  of  the  school,  the  organi- 
zation of  the  church  and  all  those  institutions  that 
belong  to  a  well-ordered  society.  He  crowds  out  the 
lawless,  who  retire  to  the  mountains.  The  disloyal 
find  it  uncomfortable  to  remain,  and  some  move  to 
other  parts,  or  learn  to  hide  their  pedigree  or  hold 
their  tongue. 

Now  come  in  most  of  the  modern  families  who 
engrafted  upon  the  old  form  a  new  society,  the  foun- 
dation of  Monroe  of  the  present. 

It  is  an  interesting  matter  of  history  that  James 
and  Charles  Webb  came  fi'om  Goshen  in  1798  and 
bought  each  300  acres  on  opposite  sides  of  Mombasha, 
dividing  it  through  the  middle.  Their  father  was 
Samuel  Webb,  who  was  seven  feet  in  height.  He 
was  killed  in  the  Minisink  war  by  the  Indians,  who 
boasted  they  had  killed  the  biggest  man  in  the  settle- 
ment. His  brother  was  also  very  tall,  measuring 
more  than  six  and  a  half  feet.  Samuel  Webb,  Jr., 
was  the  son  of  Charles,  succeeding  him  in  ownership 
of  lands  in  the  east  side.  He  had  also  a  sawmill 
below  the  outlet  where  was  an  old  road  soon  to  be 
reopened  to  afford  a  beautiful  drive  about  the  lake 
and  to  connect  with  that  from  Tuxedo.  Cyrenius 
and  the  late  J.  Madison  are  the  sons  of  Samuel  Webb, 
and  they  or  their  heirs  still  occupy  the  same  tract, 
now  for  a  hundred  years  in  possession  of  the  family. 
9 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HOME  BUILDING  IN   THE   OLDEN   TIME. 

THE  log  cabin  is  the  prototype  of  the  homes  of 
Monroe.  Under  these  thatched  roofs  rich  and 
poor  ahke  rested.  By  these  rude  firesides  the  best 
of  her  sons  learned  theu'  first  lessons  of  hfe.  In  one, 
it  is  said,  the  Father  of  his  Country  did  not  disdain  to 
rest.  But  it  was  not  long  before  an  evolution  began. 
Soon  the  sawmill  arrives,  and  lumber  is  drawn  for  a 
"  lean-to."  Then  there  is  a  stoop,  with  rude  benches, 
where  the  family  receive  neighbors,  crack  nuts,  and 
tell  the  news.  But  soon  comes  an  honest  pride.  The 
log  cabin  must  go.  A  neighbor  of  more  means  has 
started  with  a  frame  house,  and  so  the  cabin  is  con- 
verted into  a  stable,  and  in  its  place  rises  the  dry- 
goods  box,  which  is  topped  out  with  gambrel  roof  and 
two-story  piazza;  this  again  passes  through  a  white 
elephant  period,  or  "Crazy  Jane,"  at  last  efflorescing 
into  a  Queen  Anne  with  all  the  modern  improvements. 
Some,  however,  "  to  the  manner  born,"  conceived, 
more  in  accord  with  the  fitness  of  environment,  that 
in  a  country  of  granite  rocks  stone  is  the  proper  ma- 
terial for  the  homestead ;  hence  persons  like  Harvey 
Bull,  John  Brooks,  and  Dr.  Carpenter  built  their 
stone  mansions,  at  once  enduring  monuments  of  their 
sturdy  good  sense  and  taste.     One  of  these  gentlemen 

66 


Home  Building  in  the  Olden  Time.  67 

would  point  to  some  of  the  stones  of  the  corner  and 
tell  the  story  of  their  quarrying  with  loving  pride. 
But  let  us  look  outside  on  garden  and  farm.  Would 
you  know  what  it  cost  of  toil  to  subdue  a  little  piece 
of  ground  for  garden,  we  call  to  remembrance  a  small 
piece  cultivated  by  Phineas  Brooks  opposite  the 
Grranite  House.  Year  after  year  the  old  man  toiled, 
throwing  out  the  stone  till  he  had  a  huge  pile,  enough 
to  macadamize  rods  of  road;  and  still  there  was 
plenty.  Asking  Sammy  Gregory  to  explain  their 
origin,  he  said,  "  He  guessed  they  growed."  But  we 
need  not  smile,  for  one  of  the  old  fumace-men  at 
Southfield  remembered  "  when  Tom  Jones'  mountain 
was  no  bigger  than  a  coal-basket."  These  pioneers 
had  to  content  themselves  with  the  simplest  and 
coarsest  esculents  of  the  garden,  and  the  humblest 
modes  of  taking  care  of  them.  It  was  related  of  one 
of  the  careful  dames  that  she  took  her  turnips  to  bed 
with  her  to  keep  them  from  freezing,  finding  them 
but  poor  bed-fellows.  The  dirt-cellar  was  soon  thought 
out,  and  became  a  necessity.  The  Hessian  had  gone 
home,  leaving  behind  only  his  curse,  the  wild  daisy. 
But  his  cauliflower  and  sprouts  and  Antwerp  berries 
were  a  better  legacy.  The  love-apple  developed  into 
the  tomato.  The  black-bog  Irish  potato  found  a 
friend  in  the  Rev,  E.  P.  Roe,  who  gave  us  the  perfec- 
tion of  tubers.  And  since  that  the  cornucopia  of  the 
world  has  been  pouring  in  seeds  of  plants  and  flowers 
from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  The  puckery 
crab-apple  of  the  Indians  has  been  superseded  by  the 
Newtown  pippins,  dominies,  and  seek-no-furthers  of 
the  orchards.  Deacon  Van  Yaler  used  to  say,  "  Never 
plant  a  shade  tree  when  a  fruit  tree  will  do  as  well." 
His  farm  was  an  orchard,  and  when,  nearly  eighty 


68         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

years  of  age,  a  neighbor  laughed  at  liim  for  continu- 
ing to  plant  and  graft,  lie  said :  "I  not  merely  expect 
to  gather  fruit  from  these  trees,  but  to  pick  from  this 
ladder  which  I  am  making."     And  he  did. 

If  it  was  so  hard  to  make  a  garden,  what  must  it 
have  been  to  clear  a  farm?  The  sturdy  woodsman 
would  soon  clear  up  the  timber;  but  the  rocks  and 
boulders  with  which  every  rood  was  strewn  were 
enough  to  appal  any  but  one  of  these  hardy  sons  of 
toil ;  particularly  when  we  remember  the  rudeness 
of  their  appliances  :  the  pick,  the  crow-bar,  hammer, 
wedge,  the  gunpowder,  the  oxen,  and  stone-boat. 
No  dynamite,  no  stump  and  rock  extractor.  But  co- 
operative industry  was  the  order  of  the  times.  Stone- 
bees  were  made,  and  neighbor  came  to  the  assistance 
of  neighbor. 

The  good  dame  did  her  part  in  the  kitchen,  turning 
out  the  pot-pie  and  other  appetizing  productions  of 
hands  well  taught  in  the  culinary  art.  At  such  times 
the  best  stories  were  told.  Toasts  were  drunk  in  the 
old-fashioned  cider,  for  as  yet  total  abstinence  was  in 
its  cradle.  With  mirth  and  jollity  the  rocks  were 
torn  up  as  by  giants;  the  stones  "  snaked"  towards 
the  limits  of  the  outlined  fields,  to  be  broken  up  on 
the  morrow  by  the  fence-builder,  who  would  rear 
them  into  the  characteristic  fences  of  the  town.  Mr. 
John  Brooks  buried  the  stones  on  his  farm  in  great 
holes  dug  for  the  purpose.  But  let  us  hear  him  tell 
the  story  of  his  labors : 

'"Twas  thus  by  honest  toil 
I  smoothed  the  rugged  soil, 
For  forty  years  or  more, 
TiU  orchard,  grass  and  grain 
Spread  o'er  the  barren  plain, 


Home  Building  in  the  Olden  Time,  69 

Where  nothing  grew  before. 
By  powder,  picks  and  sledges, 
By  levers,  bars  and  wedges, 
By  prying,  splitting,  mauling, 
I  brought  the  rocks  to  reason. 
As  rebels  were  from  treason. 
And  j&tted  them  for  handling  j 
In  fences  rough  and  strong, 
In  fields  square  and  some  oblong. 

Then  took  they  proper  station. 
As  they  came  struggling  through 

The  rubbish  of  creation. 
As  each  redeemed  spot, 
Grew  to  a  garden  plot, 

A  longer  breath  I  drew, 
Took  courage  from  the  past. 
And  prayed  that  I  might  last 

To  put  the  hard  task  through. 
And  now  in  fact  'tis  done 
As  I  planned  when  I  begun. 

And  tho'  'tis  true  that  I 
Shall  ne'er  receive  the  gains, 
The  needful  for  my  pains. 

These  fields  shall  never  die. 
Whate'er  shall  be  my  fate. 
E'en  up  to  death's  dark  gate, 

Thro'  health,  wealth,  want  or  pain. 
The  fame  I  fought  for  most 
Will  be  this  honest  boast, 

I  have  not  lived  in  vain !  " 

John  Brooks. 

How  well  expressed!  Let  the  young  men  who 
have  entered  into  possession  of  these  ancestral  acres 
learn  what  they  cost,  and  not  he  ashamed  of  the 
farmer's  profession, —  for  such  it  is, —  nor  ever  turn 
away  in  scorn  from  the  homestead  farm  even,  although 
the  moss  covers  the  roof  and  the  cricket  steals  in  by 
the  hearth. 

The  implements  of  the  farm  were  very  rude  at  first. 


70  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

For  example,  the  plow  used  was  what  was  called  the 
"  hog  plow."  It  had  a  rough  beam,  with  share  of 
wood  shod  with  iron  that  had  to  be  taken  to  the 
smithy  to  be  sharpened.  It  was  followed  by  the  Eng- 
lish plow,  which  had  a  movable  coulter  that  would  cut 
the  sod  and  lay  it  over  a  curvilinear  mould-board  in 
even  f lu'rows.  What  would  one  of  those  gray  fathers 
have  said  had  he  been  told  that  his  grandson  would 
ride  behind  a  spanking  team  upon  a  sulky  plow  of 
steel,  over  a  carpet-hke  sod,  and  lay  it  smooth  as  a 
floor,  and  another  follow  after,  dropping  corn  from  a 
patent  planter,  to  be  covered  also  by  machinery  ?  This 
was  that  same  maize  which  they  had  received  from 
the  Indians,  who  taught  them  to  plant  it  when  the 
oak  leaves  were  as  big  as  squirrels'  ears,  and  to  go  to 
the  brook  and  bring  two  shiners  for  each  hill  of  corn. 
"  Succotash"  was  an  Indian  term,  as  was  "  kintakaue"; 
and  after  eating  the  one  the  other  helped  digest  it. 
This  was  the  elementary  lesson  of  that  primitive  time. 
But  sagacity  early  discovered  that  Monroe  soil 
was  best  adapted  for  grazing;  hence  attention  was 
turned  to  pasture  fields.  But  no  cultivated  grasses 
were  known  till  comparatively  recent  times.  Meadows 
and  marshes  were  relied  upon  to  furnish  forage  and 
hay.  The  hay  cut  with  the  scythe  was  raked  by 
hand,  forked  upon  poles,  and  carried  out  or  stacked 
up,  till  winter  brought  frozen  ground  that  would 
bear  up  team  and  wain.  Mr.  Samuel  Webb  could 
recollect  when  the  first  Timothy  Hurd  grass  seed  and 
red  clover  were  introduced.  It  was  an  era  in  agri- 
cultui'al  history  —  a  revolution.  The  marsh  is  out- 
shone by  the  meadow,  and  the  milch  cow  and  sleek 
steers  are  seen  grazing  over  the  clovered  plain.  The 
wooden  hay-fork  and  home-made  rake  give  way  to 


Home  Building  in  the  Olden  Time.  71 

better  tools.  But  for  many  years  scythe,  sickle  and 
the  clumsy  cradle  held  the  field  before  anything  better 
was  thought  of.  The  present  generation  can  remem- 
ber when  the  carpenter  left  his  bench,  the  clerk  the 
counter,  and  the  smith  his  anvil,  to  take  part  in  the 
labors  of  the  hay  and  harvest  field.  The  country 
was  one  vast  hive  of  industry.  There  was  turning 
the  grindstone,  the  boy's  spectre,  which  kept  saying, 
"  Beware  of  the  man  who  has  an  axe  to  grind" ;  and 
whettings  that  filled  the  air  with  clear  metallic  strains ; 
hanging  of  scythes,  which  Webster  regarded  as  suc- 
cessfully done  when  he  hung  it  in  a  tree ;  then  the 
march  of  the  peaceful  procession  across  the  field, 
with  even  step  and  graceful  sweep  as  well  timed  as 
an  aria  in  Handel's  "  Seasons." 

Then  came  the  httle  army  with  hand-rakes  draw- 
ing hay  or  grain  into  windrows,  to  be  followed  by 
binders  if  grain,  or  tossing  into  hay-cocks  or  mowing 
away  if  hay.  All  this  had  to  be  done  by  hand,  with 
rude  tools  and  slow  ox-teams.  It  made  weeks  of 
frolic  and  hard  work  for  field  hands  and  wives  and 
daughters ;  for  all  were  interested,  and  not  seldom 
could  be  seen  the  fair  hands  of  Ruth  bearing,  if  not 
the  sheaves,  at  least  the  basket  of  lunch  for  the  tired 
reapers.  But  how  all  is  changed  now !  First  came 
the  horse-rake ;  then  the  mowing-machine.  The  last 
came  in  1854.  It  was  the  Ketcham  machine,  cum- 
brous and  heavy,  galling  the  necks  of  the  horses,  and 
unwilhng  to  back  down  when  it  struck  stump  or 
rock.  This  gave  way  to  lighter  and  more  convenient 
inventions,  the  acme  being  reached  when  the  reaper 
and  binder  came  into  the  field.  Then,  when  the  horse 
hay-hfter  and  mower  followed,  the  burden  of  farm- 
ing was  also  lifted,  and  the  problem  of  gathering  the 


72         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

crops  with  few  hands  was  solved.  Indeed,  if  snch 
improved  machinery  had  not  been  introduced,  much 
of  the  crops  during  the  Civil  War  must  have  been 
ungathered. 

Vehicles  passed  through  similar  evolution.  First, 
the  cart ;  then  the  wagon  without  springs ;  then  the 
spring  seat.  In  these  rude,  lumbering  things  they 
even  went  to  church.  Chairs  were  set  in  them  when 
a  number  rode.  On  one  occasion,  when  at  a  later 
period  the  custom  was  repeated,  after  the  load  had 
been  deposited  at  the  church  door  one  of  the  little 
girls  in  the  congregation,  seeing  the  wagon  and  chaii's 
pass  the  window,  observed  that  "  some  one  was  mov- 
ing." One  of  our  older  citizens  remembered  distinctly 
the  time  when  the  first  springs  were  introduced  and 
the  gossip  they  occasioned. 

Oxen  also  constituted  the  earliest  beasts  of  burden. 
They  snaked  out  the  stumps  on  week-days,  and  took 
the  family  to  church  on  Smiday.  Moonlight  rides  in 
the  one-horse  open  sleigh  were  then  undreamed  of. 
The  patient  ox  was  better  adapted  to  the  slow  work 
of  subduing  the  wilderness.  Experiences  with  them 
were  sometimes  odd:  as  when  a  green  son  of  the 
Emerald  Isle  yoked  a  pair  of  steers  facing  each  other, 
and  said,  "Did  yees  ever  see  the  loike?"  or  when 
John  Fowler's  cattle  stepped  on  a  large  snapping- 
turtle ;  and  on  another  occasion,  when  he  left  them 
yoked  to  feed  near  a  fence  while  he  went  to  dinner, 
and  found  one  of  them  choked  down  by  a  large  black- 
snake.  He  cut  the  throat  of  the  ox  and  di'essed  the 
carcass.  Attention  was  largely  paid  at  first  to  the 
raising  of  cattle  for  market,  but  this  gradually  gave 
way  to  the  dairy  business,  and  the  development  of 
the  best  milch  cow  has  been  the  aim  and  effort  since. 


Home  Building  in  the  Olden  Time.  73 

The  scrubby  native  animal  with  crumpled  born  bad 
to  give  way  for  tbe  coming  of  tbe  Holstein,  Jersey, 
Alderney,  and  lastly  tbe  chef  d''muvre,  according  to 
one  of  our  best  cattle-raisers,  tbe  belted  stock.  Fifty 
years  ago  tbe  butter-producing  quality  was  tbe  aim, 
wben  tbe  very  bank-notes  of  Orange  County  took  on 
a  butter  bue.  But  in  1841,  wben  tbe  Erie  Railroad 
was  constructed  and  sent  its  first  train  into  tbis 
region,  keen  eyes  saw  tbe  advantage  of  sending  milk 
to  tbe  great  city ;  and  ever  since  tbe  Monroe  farmers 
bave  turned  tbeir  attention  to  milk. 


10 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  IRON   INDUSTRY  OF   MONROE. 

THE  surveyor  Clintou  calls  attention  to  lot  No. 
3,  which  he  caUs  "  the  great  iron  lot."  Twenty 
thousand  acres  in  this  vicinity  were  sold  by  James 
Alexander,  Lord  StMing,  to  a  London  company  who 
established  the  Stirling  Iron  Works  in  1752.  The 
anchory  and  forge  were  built  over  the  line  in  War- 
wick, but  the  mines  are  largely  in  Monroe.  When 
owned  by  Messrs.  Noble  and  Townsend  the  great 
chain  was  forged,  as  we  have  ah'eady  described.  The 
Forest  of  Dean  Furnace  was  started  before  the  Revo- 
lution, but  the  fall  of  Fort  Montgomery  forced  it  to 
close,  and  now  it  is  an  unsightly  ruin.  Queensboro 
continued  till  the  War  of  1812,  when  it  extinguished 
its  fires.  The  Augusta  works  were  established  in 
1783  by  Solomon  Townsend,  for  the  manufacture  of 
bar  u'on  and  anchors;  but  the  plant  was  removed 
elsewhere,  leaving  a  picturesque  ruin  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ramapo.  Greenwood  Iron  Works  were  estab- 
hshed  in  1811.  At  the  opening  there  was  a  proces- 
sion, each  workman  bearing  the  tool  of  his  branch  of 
work.  Songs  were  sung,  toasts  drunk,  speeches  made, 
an  ox  roasted,  and  dinner  served.  Messrs.  Robert 
and  Peter  P.  Parrott  were  the  owners.     This  furnace 

74 


The  Iron  Industry  of  Monroe.  75 

fui'nished  the  iron  from  which  most  of  the  cannon 
used  by  the  government  during  the  late  Civil  War 
were  made.  Now  the  fires  of  this  historic  furnace 
have  been  extinguished;  the  well-known  and  respected 
manager,  Mr.  P.  P.  Parrott,  is  dead;  the  property  has 
passed  into  other  hands,  the  scene  of  toil  turned  into 
a  park,  and  its  name  changed  to  Arden. 

Southfield  Iron  Works  came  into  the  possession  of 
Messrs.  William  and  Peter  Townsend  in  1827,  and 
have  had  a  memorable  record.  For  seventy  years  the 
fires  glowed  and  the  huge  engine  puffed,  the  molten 
stream  poured  forth,  and  weird  figures  moved  in  the 
lurid  firehght,  while  on  every  hand  were  signs  of 
thrift  and  labor.  How  sweetly  came  the  sound  of 
tinkling  bells  across  the  valley,  as  the  cows  of  the  cot- 
tagers returned  from  the  mountain  pastures ;  and  how 
restful  the  notes  of  the  whippoorwill  in  the  gloam- 
ing, when  around  the  old  homestead  played  the  grand- 
children of  that  old  couple  who  knew  so  well  how  to 
"welcome  the  coming  and  speed  the  parting  guest  "! 
But  the  scene  is  all  changed  now.  Some  of  the  fam- 
ily return  to  spend  the  summers,  but  the  fires  of  the 
furnace  are  out,  the  long  breath  of  the  engine  is  no 
longer  heard,  the  teams  are  released,  the  men  dis- 
charged, and  their  honored  employer  and  his  benevo- 
lent wife  are  resting  on  the  cliff  yonder,  whither 
sturdy  hands,  not  without  tears,  carried  them  a  few 
years  since. 

The  scene  was  a  very  different  one  some  sixty 
years  ago,  when  the  iron  industries  of  the  country 
flourished,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  lines 
from  the  fertile  pen  of  our  town  poet,  the  late  John 
Brooks,  who  was  employed  as  clerk  and  storekeeper 
for  the  Stirling  Company  about  the  year  1832  : 


76         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

"  Mr.  Peter  Townsend  : 

I  send  you  by  our  lazy  brawny, 
Chuckle-head  and  a  Montawney, 
Eighty-four  bars  well-wrought  and  strong, 
Two  tons,  one  hundred  fourteen  pounds ; 
Send  us  some  Indian  and  some  flour 
Immediately,  if  in  your  power. 
Send  us  some  shoes,  we're  out  of  leather ; 
We  can't  go  barefoot  this  cold  weather. 
Bill  Babcock  wants  a  pair ;  also  his  wife ; 
'Tis  twelves  both  wear. 
Some  of  our  dames  do  scold  and  pout. 
Because  our  tea  does  not  hold  out — 
Three  and  a  half  pounds  allowed  per  week ; 
For  I'm  so  dumb  I've  not  yet  found 
The  art  of  making  from  three  pound 
Just  sixteen  quarters.    Must  I  serve 
The  first  that  come,  just  like  the  rest  ? 
Or  will  you  send  a  little  more  ? 
Three  and  a  half  and  sometimes  four. 
Send  me  the  news,  for  I  want  to  know 
How  Adams  and  Old  Hickory  go. 
Some  of  us  will  want  some  money 
For  training  ;  therefore  I'll  just  dun  ye. 
Two  shillings  each  will  pay  stage  fare, 
And  as  much  more  will  keep  us  there. 
But  send  as  much  as  you  can  spare. 
The  coaling  jobs  go  on  right  well; 
But  on  the  forge  there  lays  a  spell. 
And  where  'twill  end  no  one  can  teU ; 
Tho'  now  she  thumps  away  like  Sheol. 
Now  when  you  and  your  better  haK 
Are  reading  this,  'twiU  make  you  laugh. 
'Tis  childish  verse  wrote  with  pot-hooks 
And  trammels.    I  remain. 

Yours,       John  Brooks." 

Now  if  these  lines  have  little  merit  on  the  score 
of  rhetoric,  they  are  worthy  of  preservation  as 
giving  a  pictui'e  of  the  times,  and  of  some  of  the  ens- 


The  Iron  Industry  of  Monroe.  11 

toms  in  that  mining  region.  Supplies  were  furnished 
the  families  from  the  company's  store.  Estimates 
were  made  on  the  basis  of  three  and  one  half  pounds 
of  tea  to  a  family.  But  as  the  clerk  had  not  learned 
the  art  of  making  sixteen  quarters  from  three  pounds, 
it  was  obvious  that  he  must  have  some  more  tea,  or 
there  must  be  an  unequal  distribution.  Other  touches 
of  humor  will  be  appreciated  by  those  who  were  fa- 
miliar with  the  author  and  his  times. 

The  last  generation  witnessed  much  greater  activity 
in  the  iron  industry  than  the  present.  The  time  was 
when  the  mines  near  by  were  all  worked,  the  smoke 
of  furnaces  mingled  with  that  of  cabins  in  the  moun- 
tains, teams  toiled  along  the  roads  from  Bull  Hill, 
Forshee,  Rye,  Hogancamp,0'Neal  and  Frederick  mines. 
But,  owing  to  several  causes,  a  change  has  come  over 
the  scene.  The  exhaustion  of  timber,  the  necessity 
of  using  costlier  fuel  and  of  penetrating  deeper  for 
the  ore,  have  all  conspired  to  produce  the  present  con- 
dition. When  foreign  supplies  are  exhausted  and 
tariffs  are  better  adjusted,  the  iron-men  will  again 
look  to  these  hills,  and  with  better  machinery  take 
out  the  rich  metal  which  the  magnet  indicates  is  still 
stored  there. 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 


THE   MILK  BUSINESS. 


THE  all-absorbing  business  of  Monroe  is  producing 
and  selling  milk.  We  may  say  there  was  a  pre- 
destination for  it  in  the  very  composition  of  the  soil 
and  in  the  situation.  But  it  did  not  materialize  until 
the  Erie  Railway  was  organized  and  laid  to  Monroe. 

The  first  train  ran  through  in  1841.  It  created  a 
great  sensation  at  the  time,  as  we  describe  elsewhere, 
and  opened  up  a  new  channel  of  industry  not  merely 
for  the  town,  but  the  county  also.  Hitherto  the 
county  was  famous  for  butter.  Shortly  after  the 
opening  of  the  road,  Mr.  John  Milton  Bull  conceived 
the  idea  of  utilizing  the  new  means  of  transportation 
for  the  benefit  of  the  farmer,  by  shipping  his  milk  to 
New  York.  It  was  soon  caught  up  and  put  in  prac- 
tice. John  Milton,  Jesse  and  Ira  Bull,  in  the  spring 
of  1842  started  the  enterprise.  When  the  business 
was  in  its  infancy  we  are  told  that  varied  receptacles 
were  employed,  such  as  cans,  churns,  and  tubs. 

Cloths  were  placed  under  the  covers  to  prevent 
leakage.  The  early  cans  had  no  handles  or  flanged 
lids,  but  were  carried  by  a  bail.  We  are  also  told 
that  the  brakemen  bolted  upon  bringing  the  empty 
cans  back,  because  they  were  so  hard  to  handle.  The 
farmers  were  their  own  collectors.     The  price  began, 

78 


The  Milk  Business.  79 

as  we  are  informed  from  the  books  of  a  farmer,  with, 
one  and  three  quarter  cents  per  quart  for  summer  and 
two  for  winter;  but  went  up  to  four,  five,  six,  and 
even  seven  cents  during  the  late  war.  At  first  the  milk 
was  cooled  in  troughs,  sometimes  lowered  into  wells. 
The  supply  of  milk  was  small,  so  that  farmers  would 
borrow  and  lend  or  club  together.  The  scarcity  of 
ice  rendered  it  difficult  to  keep  the  milk;  hence  it 
was  shipped  twice  a  day.  All  kinds  of  business  re- 
ceived an  impulse.  New  needs  were  created.  Milk- 
wagons,  cans,  milk-houses  and  cooling-tubs,  ice- 
houses and  ponds,  better  cows,  better  barns  and 
stables,  different  feeds  and  new  methods  of  farming, 
all  were  in  demand.  The  big  churn  was  out  of  use, 
the  churning-machine  dilapidated,  the  dog  dead,  and 
the  very  piggery  deserted.  "  Yes,"  said  one  old  gen- 
tleman who  had  been  used  to  the  old  regime,  and  who 
was  vexed  that  a  storm  or  accident  had  thrown  hun- 
dreds of  quarts  of  milk  on  his  hands  and  the  good- 
wife  could  find  no  means  of  disposing  of  it,  "we 
want  a  new  kind  of  woman." 

It  brought  a  new  age,  if  not  a  new  kind  of  woman. 
For  ever  since  the  labor  of  the  milking-yard,  the 
handhng  of  heavy  cans  has  fallen  upon  men ;  while 
she  is  released  to  attend  to  her  own  realm  in  home 
and  social  life.  After  the  introduction  of  this  new 
business  it  was  found  it  was  not  without  its  own 
irregularities.  Now  it  was  a  combination  of  middle- 
men, then  an  over-supply,  again  a  cut  in  price  on 
milk  or  feed ;  then  an  increase  in  competition  from 
the  opening  of  new  roads  and  widening  areas  of  milk 
supply.  But  the  great  obstacle  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  farming  community  has  been  the  uniform  rate  of 
shipment  by   the  railway  companies   for  long  and 


80         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

short  distances.  A  gleam  of  hope  shines  in  from  a 
recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  bringing  the 
interstate  commerce  regulations  to  hear  on  the  case. 
To  remedy  some  of  the  difficulties  above  referred  to, 
creameries  were  instituted.  Monroe  and  Turners 
were  early  in  the  field.  The  Farmers'  Creamery,  or 
Monroe  Dairy  Association,  has  shown  what  farmer 
managers  can  achieve  in  conducting  a  cooperative 
business.  The  two  other  creameries,  one  for  the  col- 
lection of  milk,  the  other  for  the  manufacture  of 
fine  cheeses,  are  built  on  the  lake,  and  another  is 
conducted  at  Satterly  town  by  the  Neuenswander 
brothers. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

INDUSTEIES  OF   THE   HOME   AND   FAEM. 

OUR  sketch  would  be  imperfect  if  we  did  not 
advert  to  the  industries  of  the  home.  In  the 
early  days  of  farming,  the  farm  was  expected  to  yield 
nearly  all  things  needed  for  subsistence,  clothing, 
and  comfort,  and  the  housewife  was  expected  to 
adapt  them  to  the  needs  of  the  household.  As  in 
Bible  times,  "  she  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her 
household.  She  riseth  while  it  is  yet  night  and 
giveth  meat  to  her  household.  She  seeketh  wool 
and  flax  and  worketh  willingly  with  her  hands.  She 
layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle ;  her  hands  hold  the 
distaff.  She  is  not  afraid  of  the  snow  for  her  house- 
hold, for  all  her  household  are  clothed  in  double  gar- 
ments." How  true  in  every  particular  except  the 
spindle  and  distaff !  But  its  more  advanced  sister  is 
there  in  the  flax  and  woollen  spinning-wheel.  All  the 
linen  used  for  bed,  table  or  clothing  was  the  product 
of  her  hands ;  sometimes  from  the  hetchelling  to  the 
final  bleaching.  So  with  the  wool.  She  carded  and 
spun  and  knit,  and  sometimes  wove.  The  very  name 
"  wife"  was  derived  from  weaving,  she  being  the  woof; 
while  spinster  was  from  the  art  of  spinning,  and  was 
then  an  honorable  name  for  married  and  unmarried 
alike.     How  the  needles  flew  in  those  days,  verifying 

11  81 


82  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

their  supposed  derivation, ' '  ne — idle  " !  The  travelhng 
tailor  would  "whip  the  cat"  from  house  to  house 
statedly,  to  help  make  up  or  cut  the  garments  for  the 
men.  Such  despatch  could  sometimes  be  reached  in 
those  days,  that  it  is  said  that  the  wool  was  on  the 
sheep  one  Sunday  morning,  when  marriage  banns 
were  published,  and  on  the  next  Sunday,  when  the 
couple  were  to  be  joined,  the  same  was  on  the  bride- 
groom. The  hides  raised  on  the  farm  came  home  in 
shoe  leather.  Then  the  travelhng  cobbler  came  around 
and  shod  the  family,  from  father  down.  The  father 
sometimes  tried  his  hand  at  cobbling,  and  on  one 
occasion  had  not  time  to  trim  the  sole  of  his  boy's 
shoe  before  school,  where  he  called  forth  the  derisive 
remark,  "  They  be  big  enough  for  oxen."  But  the 
cuisine  must  not  be  overlooked.  When  we  consider 
the  conveniences,  it  was  a  marvel.  The  huge,  clumsy 
fireplace,  with  its  crane  and  pot-hooks,  its  hearth  and 
oaken  bench,  its  glowing  coals  and  steaming  vessels, 
was  always  an  object  of  unique  interest. 

Before  the  Dutch  oven  came,  the  fowl  was  hung- 
up by  a  cord  before  the  fire,  and  the  frying-pan,  with 
its  long  handle,  was  propped  up  by  a  stick.  The  oven 
received  special  care  in  construction  and  manage- 
ment. It  must  be  heated  with  good  chestnut  oven- 
wood;  carefully  brushed  out  when  the  proper  tem- 
perature was  reached ;  no  ashes  must  chng  to  the  loaf 
of  bread  or  cake.  What  experience  and  care  were 
required !  Yet  out  of  that  oven  would  come  a  mar- 
vellous supply  of  most  delicious  brown  loaves  and 
cake,  sometimes  six  kinds  from  the  same  dough.  She 
was  an  alchemist,  and  if  she  had  not  found  the  phi- 
losopher's stone,  she  certainly  out  of  that  stone  shrine 
of  hers   brought   some   masterpieces  which  the  old 


Industries  of  the  Home  and  Farm.  83 

men  never  ceased  to  praise :  pumpkin  loaf,  succo- 
tash, crackling,  apple  pot  pie,  venison  steaks,  short- 
cake, oily  koeks,  crullers,  Sally  Lunn,  and  her  chef 
d^oBuvre,  black  fruit-cake,  the  glory  of  the  wedding 
feast. 

The  housewife  had  to  manufacture  so  many  things 
from  the  very  foundation.  Her  yeast  she  must  ob- 
tain from  her  own  hop- vine,  or  borrow  it  from  a 
neighbor  over  on  the  turnpike,  whose  skill  is  perpetu- 
ated in  the  name.  Her  sweetening  comes  from  the 
maple-trees,  and,  at  her  will,  becomes  either  molas- 
ses or  sugar.  Her  cider  can  be  converted  into  vine- 
gar if  she  wishes,  supplying  the  place  of  mother  to  it. 
Cider  apple-sauce  supplied  the  place  of  sweetmeats. 
Her  kitchen  is  a  laboratory.  Tins  shine  like  silver ; 
tubs  are  scoured  to  marvellous  whiteness;  churns  and 
butter- tray  are  sweet  as  a  heifer's  breath;  and  her 
broom,  the  work  of  her  old  man,  constitutes  her 
sceptre,  which  all  have  in  sacred  awe. 

Rock-oil  had  not  been  struck  as  yet.  Spermaceti 
was  a  luxury  too  expensive  for  common  use.  Illu- 
minating material  must  be  found  on  the  farm.  Beef- 
tallow  was  utilized.  Candles  were  made  by  twisting 
a  cotton  wick  and  dipping  in  melted  tallow  until 
they  were  of  sufficient  size.  These  primitive  hghts 
were  dim  and  dirty,  requiring  the  snuffers  and  fre- 
quent attention.  They  were  used  in  church  and 
home.  By  them,  the  family  read  and  the  minister 
wrote  his  sermon.  He  gave  notice  of  evening  service 
"  at  early  candlehght."  The  thief  in  the  candle  and 
the  flickering  flame  in  the  socket  were  often  an  ob- 
ject lesson  for  hun  in  his  dimly  hghted  chapel. 

Characteristic  features  of  the  hearth  in  those  days 
were  the    andirons,  innocent   of    spot;   the  shovel. 


84         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

tongs,  and  bellows ;  the  crane,  with  its  row  of  pot- 
hooks, so  often  cited  by  the  schoolmaster  as  a  com- 
parison for  the  writing-lesson.  Building  the  fire  on 
such  a  hearth  is  a  fine  art,  the  very  test  of  a  good 
prospective  wife.  Back  log  and  top  log  must  be  there, 
and  kindhngs  rightly  laid.  The  old  man  may  insist 
upon  bringing  in  the  first  over  the  highly  pohshed 
floor  with  the  pony;  then  there  is  a  small  hurricane 
about  his  ears,  for  the  ancient  housewife,  as  the  mod- 
em, "  went,"  as  was  said,  "  for  the  last  dirt."  The 
wood  in  order,  she  will  soon  have  it  lit,  even  if  she 
has  to  take  the  axe  herself  and  make  better  kind- 
lings. Where  is  the  fire  to  come  from  ?  If  she  has  no 
embers  from  last  night,  carefully  covered  up,  she  must 
either  go  to  a  neighbor's  to  borrow,  or  she  must  draw 
on  some  home  device. 

There  were  no  matches  sixty  years  ago.  Fhnt  and 
tinder-box  were  necessary  articles  of  furniture.  The 
tinder  was  of  home  manufacture  —  no  other  than 
scorched  rags.  When  these  were  not  at  hand,  the 
fldnt-lock  gun,  hanging  over  the  mantle,  was  taken 
down  to  give  a  spark.  An  old  lady  described  to  the 
writer  her  experience  in  an  effort  of  that  kind,  when 
she  pointed  the  gun  up  the  chimney,  fired  it,  and  was 
thrown  on  her  back  by  the  recoil,  her  grandsons 
having  loaded  it  with  shot  without  her  knowledge. 
One  was  mischievous  enough  to  say,  "  Lay  still, 
granny ;  there  are  three  more  loads  in  it." 

Now  upon  the  glowing  hearth  the  skilled  housewife 
will  prepare  most  of  her  simple  repast.  The  potatoes 
and  roasting  ears  are  pushed  into  the  coals ;  the  grid- 
dle is  hung  on  the  crane ;  the  tea-kettle  sings  a  merry 
song;  the  baby  is  crowing  in  the  cradle,  ready  to 
spring  into  the  sinewy  arms  of  the  bronzed  son  of 


Industries  of  the  Home  and  Farm.  85 

toil  when  lie  comes  in  from  the  fields  or  milking-yard ; 
then  when  the  group  gathers  about  the  humble  board, 
parents  and  rosy-cheeked,  sun-kissed  boys  and  girls, — 
for  fashion  has  not  entered  there  to  curse  with  child- 
lessness,— when  that  group  is  formed  and  grace  is 
said,  Heaven  smiles,  and  out  of  the  Oracle  come  the 
words,  "  Thou  shalt  eat  the  labor  of  thine  hands. 
Happy  shalt  thou  be.  It  shall  be  well  with  thee. 
Thy  wife  shall  be  as  a  fruitful  vine,  thy  children  as 
olive-plants  around  thy  table." 

Come  with  me  to  the  spring-house,  where  the  milk 
is  conveyed  from  the  milking-yard.  Everything  is 
scrupulously  clean  about  the  spot.  The  dames  of 
that  day,  although  not  all  Wesleyans,  remembered 
John  Wesley's  aphorism  that  "  cleanliness  is  akin  to 
godliness."  Even  the  cat  and  dog  had  to  respect 
such  religion,  and  wait  until  the  milk  was  strained, 
before  they  received  their  share.  The  milk  was 
strained  to  the  last  hair ;  for  the  process  of  setting 
the  milk,  skimming  the  cream,  and  handling  the  par- 
ticles of  butter  is  sure  to  bring  any  lurking  speck  to 
light.  What  a  sight  are  those  shining  pans,  filled 
with  the  creamy  fiuid,  set  afloat  in  the  silvery  pebble- 
paved  spring !  What  a  curiosity  it  would  be  now  to 
see  the  big  churn  operated  by  a  machine  with  in- 
clined wheel  and  lever,  the  motive-power  being  a 
huge  dog  or  a  sheep !  We  knew  of  a  minister  visit- 
ing in  a  neighboring  town,  who  had  never  seen  the 
hke,  spring  from  his  bed  upon  hearing  the  thud  of  the 
dasher  against  the  floor  and  the  bleat  of  the  impatient 
sheep,  and  actually  get  out  of  the  window  to  inquire 
what  it  meant,  intimating  that  he  thought  it  some 
new  device  of  the  adversary.  The  labor  of  the  churn 
was  periodic  and  not  hght,  as  even  the  dog  learned 


86  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

and  would  manage  to  have  an  engagement  elsewhere 
on  that  day.  A  dog  with  a  log  chained  to  his  neck, 
going  for  parts  unknown,  was  not  an  uncommon 
sight.  At  such  times  we  have  seen  the  wheel  mounted 
by  an  Irish  boy,  and  sometimes  a  girl;  the  jolly 
face  peering  out  through  a  hole  made  for  it  over  the 
machine. 

The  parlor  of  the  housewife  is  dainty,  with  its 
quaint  furniture,  first  efforts  of  the  family  in  art, 
vases  of  bachelors'  buttons,  dried  immortelles,  a  hor- 
net's nest,  birds'  eggs,  sea-shells,  fragments  of  coral, 
and  curios  picked  up  on  sea  or  land, — a  place  so 
sacred  that  it  is  opened  only  for  a  wedding  or  birth- 
day party.  Her  bedroom  is  not  less  neat,  with  its 
canopied  bedstead,  valance,  small  pillows  and  feather- 
bed, all  of  hve  goose  feathers ;  and  she  knows  it,  for 
did  she  not  pluck  the  geese  herself  ?  The  covering  of 
that  bed  is  her  own  handiwork;  the  wool  of  the 
blankets  she  spun,  the  hnen  she  drew  from  the 
distaff,  the  counterpane  of  blue  and  white,  with  her 
own  name  woven  into  it,  she  carried  to  the  weaver's 
herself,  and  every  thread  in  it  she  had  handled.  If 
there  is  a  quilt,  you  cannot  count  the  pieces ;  but  she 
will  tell  you  the  history  of  every  one.  But  come  and 
see  her  jewels.  Like  Cornelia,  you  must  wait  till 
they  come  in  from  school  or  field.  They  are  a  splen- 
did lot,  assorted  sizes  and  sexes.  GTirls  counted  in 
that  age  as  well  as  boys.  They  are  not  a  pale,  nervous 
crowd,  made  up  by  the  French  tailor  and  modiste. 
They  are  dressed  in  hnsey-woolsey  or  calico  and 
homespun ;  and  yet  they  have  their  simple  pleasures, 
content  because  they  know  not  the  glamour  of 
modem  fashionable  folly.  An  occasional  spinning- 
bee,    or    a    husking   frolic,  or    a    straw    ride,    with 


Industries  of  the  Home  and  Farm.  87 

merry  corapanions,  was  enough  for  them.  The 
mother,  however,  must  make  a  trip  to  New  York 
once  in  a  while,  to  eke  out  supphes  which  she  can- 
not find  on  the  farm  or  at  the  country  store.  She 
wants  some  Bohea,  Merrimac  prints,  a  bit  of  silk  or 
ribbon,  an  outfit  for  the  daughter ;  and  she  cannot 
step  on  the  cars  or  steamboat,  but  must  ride  to  Corn- 
wall and  take  a  sloop.  She  takes  butter  and  eggs  to 
trade  with.  She  must  take  mattress  and  bed-clothes, 
also  provisions.  The  captain  will  allow  her  to  boil 
her  kettle  over  his  fire,  but  otherwise  she  must  care 
for  herself.  Neighbors  would  go  in  company,  and 
often  more  than  a  week  would  be  consumed  in  sight- 
seeing and  bargaining.  Amusing  incidents  occurred 
on  some  of  these  trips.  On  one  occasion  a  neighbor 
was  taking  a  coop  of  hve  chickens  by  sloop  to  market. 
The  rats  invaded  his  coops  and  killed  the  poultry, 
whereupon  he  was  very  loud  in  his  denunciation,  and 
threatened  to  scuttle  the  boat  and  send  the  whole  con- 
cern to  Davy  Jones's  locker  if  the  loss  was  not  made  up 
to  him.  On  another  of  these  trips  the  sloop  was 
becalmed,  and  the  captain  said  that  the  women  had 
knit  up  all  his  wind.  They  were  pretty  sure  to  widen 
the  realm  of  experience  and  thought ;  for  there  were 
few  books  and  papers  then  —  a  Bible,  catechism,  some 
old  volume  of  sermons,  a  novel,  and  an  almanac 
would  comprise  the  family  library.  But  the  trip 
would  bring  a  book,  a  new  fashion,  or  some  new  re- 
cipe. The  Navarino  bonnet  came  in  that  way,  and 
the  pillow-sleeves  and  the  hoops.  But  it  was  not 
till  the  railroad  was  laid  that  modern  fashions  and 
conveniences  were  adopted.  Fifty  years  ago  there 
were  but  one  piano  and  one  pipe-organ  in  the  village. 
A  sewing-machine  came  about  the  same  time  as  the 


88         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

mowing-machine.  It  was  rade,  and  soon  got  out  of 
order.  It  was  handed  over  to  the  minister  to  repair ; 
for  in  those  days  it  was  said,  "  What  he  did  not  know 
was  not  worth  knowing."  He  paid  himself  for  his 
work  by  making  with  it  a  pair  of  overalls,  and  every 
seam  gave  way,  it  being  one-threaded.  What  rapid 
strides  of  improvement  since !  A  house  now  without 
a  Singer  or  a  Domestic,  a  piano  or  an  organ,  a 
steam-heater  and  a  bath-room  with  hot  and  cold 
water,  is  an  exception  about  Monroe. 

If  the  farmer's  wife  was  such  a  model  of  adapta- 
tion to  her  sphere,  her  husband  must  be  no  less  so. 
Since 

*'  Adam  delv'd  and  Eve  span/' 

farming  has  been  not  merely  one  of  the  most  honor- 
able of  vocations,  but  has  required  the  most  of  both 
physical  and  mental  energy.  It  is  not  commonly 
thought  so,  because  in  many  countries  the  farmer 
class  are  oppressed  and  so  burdened  that  they  have 
no  opportunity  to  educate  themselves  or  their  fami- 
lies. Then,  again.  Nature  is  so  beneficent  that  often 
a  very  dull  person  may  be  able  to  "  tickle  the  earth 
with  a  hoe  and  make  it  laugh  a  harvest."  But  here 
especially  there  is  room  for  the  exercise  of  the  largest 
intelligence,  and  the  best  there  is  in  man.  The 
farmer  has  to  do  with  soils  and  fertihzers ;  he  must 
bring  some  knowledge  of  chemistry  to  bear  on  this 
department.  So  must  he  know  of  plant  life,  its  laws 
and  enemies.  He  has  to  do  with  cattle  and  other  farm 
stock ;  he  must  be  a  herdman,  and  know  not  merely 
how  to  care  for  these  in  health,  but  also  in  sickness. 
Then  he  must  be  a  carpenter,  and  be  able  to  repair 
his  tools  and  vehicles,  and  in  these  days  be  a  machin- 


Industries  of  the  Home  and  Farm.  89 

ist,  for  the  implements  and  appliances  of  the  farm 
are  such  now  that  one  must  know  how  to  manage  a 
lathe,  a  windmill,  a  steam-engine,  and  sometimes  a 
dynamo.  Farming  is  not  the  dull  round  of  crass  igno- 
rance, or  the  amusement  of  elegant  leisure.  It  is 
worthy  the  name  of  a  profession.  To  do  it  well  de- 
mands a  technical  education.  But  some  will  acquire 
this  without  the  aid  of  the  college.  An  observing  mind 
on  the  farm  will  gather  up  facts,  elaborate  them  by 
experience,  and  make  his  deductions  so  wisely  that 
even  the  college-bred  is  compelled  to  come  to  him  for 
help.  Monroe  had  a  remarkable  illustration  in  one 
of  its  sons,  the  late  John  H.  Knight,  who  was  chosen 
to  take  charge  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Farm,  under 
the  superintendence  of  Professor  Cook  of  Rutgers 
College.  John  managed  that  farm  for  this  institu- 
tion for  years  with  great  success,  his  experimental 
knowledge  being  necessary  to  verify  and  illustrate 
the  theories  and  deductions  of  the  books  and  the 
class  room. 

Mr.  Knight  returned  to  his  native  town  to  give  his 
neighbors  the  benefit  of  the  knowledge  he  had  ac- 
quired, and  still  further  aided  the  interests  of  this 
dairy  region  by  introducing  a  fine  breed  of  cattle, 
namely,  the  belted,  or  Dutch,  breed,  realizing  what 
the  Monroe  farmer  has  been  always  studying  to  find 
—  the  ideal  milch  cow. 

It  will  be  of  value  to  some  of  our  readers  to  present 
certain  facts  in  regard  to  the  belted  cattle  just  re- 
ferred to.  I  am  indebted  for  the  following  communi- 
cation to  the  Hon.  A.  B.  Hulse : 

"The  Hurd  Register  of  the  Dutch  Belted  Cattle  Association 
states  as  follows  :  The  original  Dutch  name,  still  used  in  Holland, 
is  Lakenfeld  cattle ;  laken  being  a  sheet  to  be  wound  around  the 

12 


90  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

body  of  the  animal.  Their  breeding  dates  back  to  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  cattle  interests  in  Holland  were  in  the  most  thrifty 
condition,  and  this  type  and  color,  being  established  by  scientific 
breeding,  decidedly  the  highest  attainment  ever  reached  in  the 
science  of  breeding.  The  historian  Motley  has  well  said,  *  These 
are  the  most  wonderful  cattle  in  the  world.'" 

They  were  controlled  by  the  nobihty  of  Holland, 
and  they  are  "up  to  the  present  time  keeping  them 
pure.  They  are  not  inclined  to  sell  or  part  with  them. 
They  have  a  broad  band  or  belt  around  their  body,  in 
white,  while  the  rest  of  the  body  is  black,  making  a 
very  beautiful  and  imposing  contrast.  They  are 
above  the  average  size,  commonly  known  as  business 
size.  The  early  importers  in  the  United  States  were 
D.  H.  Haight  of  Groshen,  New  York,  who  made  three 
importations ;  the  Hon.  H.  Coleman ;  and  P.  T.  Bar- 
num,  our  national  showman.  The  Haight  importa- 
tions were  carefully  bred  on  a  farm  in  Orange  County, 
New  York.  The  noted  Holbert  and  Knight  herds 
were  also  estabhshed  from  this  importation  by  careful 
selection.  These  famous  herds  comprise  the  founda- 
tion of  most  of  the  thoroughbreds  in  America.  Some 
of  the  finest  specimens  of  this  noted  breed,  now  in 
this  country,  are  descendants  of  the  late  John  Knight's 
herd.  He  was  not  an  importer,  but  a  breeder  of  some 
of  the  finest  specimens  of  these  cattle  ever  bred  in 
this  country. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  DEESS   OF  THE   OLDEN  TIME. 

THE  men  wore  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution 
cocked  hat,  corded  knee-breeches,  with  stockings 
and  low  shoes.  These  were  adorned  with  buckles  at 
knee  and  ankle.  The  wealthy  had  them  of  silver, 
with  quaint  inscriptions,  such  as : 

"  When  money  's  low  the  ring  must  go ; 
If  that  won't  do,  the  buckles  too." 

The  neckwear  was  a  collar  and  high  black  silk  or 
satin  stock,  that  held  the  head  up  very  prim.  The  hair 
was  tied  in  a  queue.  This,  when  worn  by  the  school- 
master, was  always  a  point  inviting  attack  from  the 
average  small  boy.  The  vest  was  flowery,  long,  and 
flanked  with  wide  pockets,  in  which  was  the  inevitable 
snuff-box,  which  was  constantly  offered  in  compU- 
ment,  and  tapped  before  the  delicious  powder  was  ap- 
plied to  the  nose.  The  coat  had  high  collar,  and  the 
top-coat  long  skirts  with  broad  pocket-flaps.  One  of 
the  elderly  ladies  said  that  she  remembered  seeing  one 
of  these  old  men  in  such  a  dress,  and  as  he  was  a  man 
both  of  wealth  and  fine  physique,  with  silver  buckles 
and  sometimes  a  silk  dressing-gown,  she  was  much 
impressed  by  him.  The  boy  was  the  man  in  minia- 
ture, with  modifications ;  in  many  instances  the  father 
and  older  brothers  made  over.  He  was  a  happy  boy 
who  was  shaken  down  into  his  own  buckskin  trousers 
to  wear  the  same  till  they  were  ready  to  be  cut  up 

91 


92         Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

for  foot-ball  or  top-cord.  The  summer  boy  belonged 
to  the  barefoot  reghnent.  It  was  his  dehght  to  shed 
his  shoes  with  the  first  blue-bkd,  even  though  he  had 
to  warm  his  feet  on  the  ground  where  the  cows  had 
lain,  inviting  her  ladyship  to  rise  for  his  accommoda- 
tion. A  city  lady  once  expressed  pity  for  such  a  boy, 
and  was  about  to  offer  him  money  to  buy  shoes,  sup- 
posing it  was  caused  by  poverty,  but  was  checked  by 
the  remark  that  he  was  no  waif,  but  the  son  of  one 
of  the  best  famihes  in  Monroe. 

The  clothes  were  usually  made  in  the  house,  the 
goods  woven  sometimes  and  dyed.  Butternut-chips 
and  oak-balls  and  indigo  formed  the  httle  stock  of 
dye-stuffs  and  gave  sufficient  variety  of  tint.  The 
travelling  tailor  would  come  at  set  times  with  his 
goose  and  lap-board,  and  make  up  the  clothes  of  the 
men  folks,  as  they  were  called.  'Nijah  Barton  was 
the  travelling  newspaper  and  poet  of  the  time.  He 
would  sing  of 

"  The  old  brown  overcoat  and  apple-tree  buttons." 

For  even  the  buttons  were  often  home-made.  The 
shoes  were  made  by  the  travelling  shoemaker,  who 
came  with  lap-stone  and  last.  He  was  a  true  disciple 
of  St.  Crispin,  and  knew  well  how  to  fit  the  boy  with 
his  Monroe  ties,  and  the  young  man  with  his  first 
high  boots.  Copper-toes  and  patent-leathers  were 
alike  unknown  then.  This  sort  of  trade  itineracy 
was  called  "  whipping  the  cat."  The  shoemaker  was 
as  full  of  story  and  humor  as  his  itinerant  co-laborer. 

"  Rap,  rap,  rap  ! 
And  he  shook  his  paper  cap ; 
WhUe  his  lap-stone  on  his  knees 
Echoed  back  his  ecstacies. " 


The  Dress  of  the  Olden  Time.  93 

The  dress  of  the  fairer  part  of  creation  we  approach 
with  more  of  self-distrust, —  probably  may  show  our- 
selves as  much  mystified  and  perplexed  as  was  Mark 
Twain  when  he  exchanged  satchels  with  a  young 
lady,  and  opened  hers  at  his  hotel,  supposing  it  was 
his  own. 

"  We  dressed,"  said  one  good  dame,  "  not  as  we 
would,  but  as  we  could."  The  working,  e very-day 
garb  was  a  short  gown  and  skirt;  a  check  apron  for  the 
kitchen,  and  a  white  one  if  a  neighbor  happened  in. 
The  big  chintz  sunbonnet  was  always  at  hand,  to  slip 
on  if  there  was  an  errand  out  in  the  sunlight;  for 
there  was  the  same  care  then  as  now  to  guard  the 
complexion  from  tan  and  freckles,  particularly  on  the 
part  of  the  younger  women.  "  The  young  girls  wore 
flats,"  said  a  dame  of  seventy,  "  and  we  tied  them 
down  over  our  faces,  and  carried  umbrellas  to  screen 
us  from  the  sun."  No  such  famiharity  from  Dan  Sol 
or  any  of  the  mascuhne  persuasion  was  permitted  till 
their  preordained  alter  ego  came  along.  One  old 
man  said,  "  I  sat  up  with  her  to  feed  some  httle  pigs 
that  had  lost  their  mother,  and  when  it  got  kind  of 
tedious  I  just  kissed  her  because  I  thought  it  had 
never  been  offered  her  before."  It  must  always  be 
remembered  that  the  pink  sunbonnet  shaded  eyes  as 
bright  and  cheeks  as  soft  and  fair,  with  hands  as 
white  and  hearts  that  beat  beneath  the  plain  white 
kerchief  as  warm  as  any  to-day.  Then  also  was 
there  the  same  love  of  dress,  the  same  fickleness  of 
fashion.  The  old  attics  reveal  to-day  some  of  the 
quaint  articles  of  costume  with  which  the  fair  dames 
appeared  on  state  occasions.  Here  is  an  enormous 
bonnet  of  straw,  that  would  be  as  unwelcome  at  the 
play  as  some  of  the  modern  plumed  aureolas.     A 


94  Chrofdcles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

pair  of  buckram  frames  tell  the  story  of  pillow- 
sleeves,  big  as  those  a  missionary's  wife  found  to 
contain  stuff  enough  to  make  her  child  a  dress. 
Then  there  were  gowns  of  textures  oft  as  dehcate 
and  tasteful,  if  not  as  rich  and  costly,  as  now,  just  as 
varied  in  pattern  and  often  far  more  elaborate  in 
adornment;  for  much  of  the  lace  and  other  trim- 
ming was  made  by  their  own  deft  hands,  which  were 
seldom  idle.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  all  the 
artistic  fabrics  and  forms  are  modern.  Silk-weavers 
seek  the  antique  for  beauty  of  pattern,  and  costumers 
revert  to  Dolly  Varden,  Mother  Hubbard,  Marie-An- 
toinette, and  Madame  Pompadour  when  they  want 
to  bring  out  something  to  astonish. 

Now  and  then  a  bridal  dress  has  survived  the 
wreck  of  time,  recalling  a  sentiment  which  in  all 
ages  brings  out  the  best  that  is  in  human  nature. 
The  veil  and  wreath  were  then,  as  now,  the  bride's  pre- 
rogative. Perhaps  a  dainty  slipper  appears,  filled  once 
by  some  fairy  foot  that  perchance  has  lost  its  light- 
ness. But  how  it  once  tripped  down  the  stair,  amid 
the  shower  of  rice,  that  night  she  went  out  a  young 
bride!  Among  these  treasures  is  a  tortoise-shell 
comb,  around  which  the  hair  was  piled  in  wondrous 
folds  of  rich  profusion.  One  little  curl  of  gray  re- 
mains on  a  remembered  face,  a  relic  of  former  beauty 
not  all  yet  faded.  The  engagement  rings  seldom 
were  of  diamond,  but  a  plain  circlet  of  gold,  on 
which  sometimes  was  inscribed  the  couplet : 

"  I  hope  in  time 
You  may  be  mine." 

The  wedding-ring  did  not  often  convey  a  large 
amount  of  worldly  goods,  but  it  was  not  the  fickle 


The  Dress  of  the  Olden  Time.  95 

bauble  of  fashion  to  be  shifted  with  every  change  of 
fortune,  but  taken  for  better  and  for  worse.  The 
miniatures  of  the  olden  time  reveal  many  striking 
forms  and  beautiful  faces.  Perhaps  the  artist  flat- 
tered them.  There  were  no  sun-pictures  to  bring 
out  the  imperfections  as  in  more  recent  days.  But 
life  then  was  just  as  real  as  now,  having  hke  virtues 
and  vices,  foibles  and  follies,  cares  and  pleasures.  As 
we  look  upon  those  who  have  survived  them,  we  are 
looking  as  it  were  upon  veterans  who  have  come 
through  many  a  conflict,  or  upon  craft  that  have 
weathered  many  a  storm.  We  may  smile  at  their 
weaknesses  and  quaint  ways,  but  let  us  think  how  it 
will  be  with  ourselves  when  the  next  generation 
shall  be  retrospecting  our  age ;  bringing  out  from 
the  attic  our  old  hats  and  gowns,  our  stovepipe  hats 
and  flower-garden  bonnets  of  all  the  colors  of  the 
rainbow,  our  stiff  collars  and  pointed  shoes.  Some 
day  the  college  professor  will  show  to  the  students 
our  clumsy  steam-engines  and  dynamos,  and  the  pop- 
ular lecturer  will  set  the  house  in  a  roar  with  a  de- 
scription of  a  modern  girl  whirling  through  the  ave- 
nues on  a  bicycle,  in  bloomer  costume.  Our  boasted 
triumphs  will  seem  child's  play  to  the  twentieth- 
century  savant. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 


COURTSHIP  AND  MAERIAGE. 


W 


E  have  read  in  an  old  album  at  Monroe  the 
hnes : 

"  In  vain  may  old  folks  scold  and  watch. 
And  barricade  the  house  ; 
For  surely  Love  the  girls  will  catch, 
As  cats  do  catch  the  mouse." 

—  Experience. 

We  must  not  forget  that  these  wrinkled  faces  and 
stooping  forms  were  not  always  thus.  A  gleaming 
eye,  a  snowy  curl,  some  rehc,  ribbon,  or  jewel,  re- 
mind us  that  there  was  beauty  then,  and  tender  hearts, 
and  hearts  to  love  as  well.  There  were  quiet  lanes, 
and  narrow  bridges  over  babbling  brooks,  where  was 
"  only  room  for  twa."  And  bits  of  romance  would 
find  their  way  even  into  lives  amid  these  rugged 
rocks  and  humble  homes.  The  big  fireplace  —  what  a 
spot  to  woo  and  dream  and  forecast  the  future !  The 
very  mode  of  building  the  fire  was  an  index  of  the 
skill  of  the  hands ;  the  manner  in  which  it  burned 
an  omen  of  the  success  of  the  future  wife.  The  re- 
plenishment of  the  fuel  and  the  stirring  of  the  coals 
gave  frequent  occasion  for  mutual  help  and  coopera- 
tion. The  very  crackle  of  the  chestnut  logs  gave  a 
name  to  the  pleasant  pastime.     When  the  fire  ceased 

96 


Courtship  and  Marriage.  97 

to  need  attention,  the  youth  would  get  out  his  jack- 
knife  and  whittle ;  and  if  the  old  man  should  look  in, 
it  would  be  to  see  if  the  whittling  ultimated  in  any 
useful  end.  Thus  he  was  carving  his  own  destiny. 
And  the  maid  would  ply  her  needles  and  "  widden  or 
narrow,"  take  up  or  drop  a  stitch,  and  give  her  answer 
to  the  burning  question,  according  to  the  form  it 
took,  either  sock  or  mitten.  Rival  lovers  would  try 
to  sit  one  another  out.  A  fine  horse  and  buggy  or 
cutter  would  give  opportunity  to  promote  the  lover's 
scheme.     With  what  vim  they  sang  : 

"  Jingle,  bells ;  jingle,  bells ;  jingle  all  the  way  : 
Oh,  what  fun  it  is  to  ride  in  a  one-horse  open  sleigh ! " 

Often  it  would  result  in  a  ride  to  the  parson's,  or 
in  a  message  to  bring  the  parson  to  her  door. 

"I  want  you  to  marry  me  to  this  'ere  gal,"  said  a 
swain  to  the  minister.  "  But  you  seem  to  have  two ; 
I  can  marry  you  only  to  one."  "  Oh,  well,  come  into 
the  parlor  and  I  will  tell  you  which  one."  The 
choice  was  made ;  the  knot  tied.  Both  knelt  with 
their  backs  to  the  man  of  Grod,  the  groom  disclosing 
a  huge  pair  of  brogans  from  his  overcoat  pocket. 
The  ceremony  over,  he  said :  "  I  came  away  without 
my  pocket-book ;  I  will  settle  to-morrow."  It  is  need- 
less to  say  to-morrow  never  came. 

The  same  minister  rode  out  to  a  log  cabin  in  the 
woods,  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  was  met  at  the 
door  by  the  groom,  who  was  anxious  to  have  the  con- 
tract made  as  binding  as  the  law  allows,  and  addressed 
him  thus:  "Did  you  bring  one  of  them  things! — 
them,  ah  —  certif 'cat's  !  " 

He  was  assured  everything  was  prepared  to  per- 
form the  ceremony  aright.  After  some  confusion  as 
13 


98  Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

to  their  relative  places  and  the  proper'  answers  to  be 
given,  they  were  tied  together.  Then  from  the  lips 
of  paterfamihas  came  the  query :  "  Sam,  did  you 
settle?"  Sam  settled;  and  as  the  dominie  called  for 
his  horse,  it  was  said  to  him :  "  We  would  like  to 
have  you  stay  to  tea,  because  we  have  tea  things,  but 
you  are  in  a  hurry."  The  next  day  they  expressed 
regret  that  he  did  not  stay,  for  they  had  two  kinds  of 
cake  :  gingerbread  and  biscuit. 

The  marriage  ceremony  was  seldom  performed  in 
the  church  at  that  day,  at  least  in  Monroe,  but 
mostly  at  the  home  of  the  bride,  or  at  the  house  of 
minister  or  justice  of  the  peace.  When  the  marriage 
took  place  at  home,  it  was  an  event  that  excited  the 
whole  neighborhood.  There  were  dressmaking  and 
brewing,  baking,  and  general  furbishing  for  weeks. 
Cook-books  and  patterns  ready  cut  and  marked  could 
not  be  bought  then.  The  experienced  talent  of  the 
parish  was  called  in,  and  many  an  original  trousseau 
and  novel  delicacy  was  the  outcome.  .When  the 
bride  could  make  her  own  attire,  and  her  mother 
cook  the  entire  menu,  that  was  something  to  boast  of. 
One  such  feast  we  recollect,  in  which  there  were 
nine  courses,  all  of  home  production. 

A  wedding  party  was  the  scene  of  great  merri- 
ment, seldom  of  intemperance.  The  music  was  fur- 
nished by  native  talent.  One  of  the  old  dancing- 
masters  was  of  so  serious  a  turn  that  he  would 
practise  on  his  viohn  and  read  his  Bible  at  the  same 
time.  While  a  wedding  was  at  its  highest,  the  rude 
boys  would  come  and  serenade  the  couple  with  horn 
and  tin  pan,  which  they  called  "riding  skmibleton." 
Sometimes  they  proceeded  to  great  extremes,  such  as 
placing  a  stone  on  top  of  the  chimney,  or  snatching 


Courtship  and  Marriage.  99 

food  from  the  stove.  A  sharp  lesson  was  adminis- 
tered to  them  once,  when  the  doctor  offered  them 
wine  in  which  tartar  emetic  had  been  placed.  A 
very  sick  crowd  was  laid  out  on  fence  and  wood-pile. 
On  another  occasion  they  fired  a  gun  just  as  the 
ceremony  was  in  progress.  The  bride  nearly  fainted. 
This  time  the  perpetrators  were  arrested  and  fined. 
And  yet  weddings  and  skimbletons  continue  as  of 
yore. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


MILLS  AND   SMITHY. 


THE  flour  and  feed  mill  was  needed  almost  as  soon 
as  the  country  began  to  be  settled.  The  primi- 
tive mill  was  a  private  one,  consisting  of  a  rude,  hol- 
low stone  with  a  rounded  one  for  pestle.  With  these 
the  com  was  pounded  as  the  settlers  could  learn  from 
their  Indian  neighbors.  The  bolting  was  done  with 
a  fan,  as  in  Scripture  times.  Samp  and  hominy  were 
the  common  food  at  first.  But  soon  there  would  be 
a  longing  on  the  part  of  some  goodwife  for  some 
wheat  or  rye  flour  to  try  her  hand  upon.  We  are 
informed  of  one  of  the  early  settlers  who  walked  to 
the  river  and  brought  home  a  bag  of  flour  on  his 
back.  But  it  was  not  long  before  a  flour  and  grist 
miU  was  built  in  the  Clove.  In  the  old  records  it 
bears  the  name  of  Cunningham's  Mill.  It  was  built 
by  some  one  of  the  Smith  family,  for  the  deeds  show 
that  Hophni  Smith  sold  the  property  to  Abner  Cun- 
ningham for  £480  in  1788.  The  latter  sold  in  1806 
to  Nicholas  Knight,  yeoman  of  Smith's  Clove.  The 
deed  mentions  the  stone  arch  of  the  bridge,  a  white- 
oak  bush  as  a  monument,  the  raceway  and  mill,  with 
house,  in  lot  No.  43  of  the  Cheesecock  Patent. 
The  stump  of  a  white-oak  tree  is  on  the  south  side  of 
the  highway  to-day. 

100 


Mills  and  Smithy.  101 

The  machinery  of  this  mill  was  mostly  of  wood. 
The  bolting  was  done  by  hand.  An  old  musket  was 
found  in  the  mill,  which  Daniel  Knight  undertook  to 
take  apart,  when  the  load  exploded  and  injured  his 
eyesight.  He  was  conducting  a  customer  down  to 
the  basement  when  the  old  man  fell.  Mr.  Knight 
said:  "Did  you  miss  the  steps?"  He  replied:  "I 
missed  the  top  one,  but  I  hit  all  the  rest."  A  saw- 
mill stood  a  little  west  of  the  grist-mill,  and  most  of 
the  timber  of  the  neighborhood  was  sawed  there. 
The  old  dam  gave  way  in  a  freshet  while  owned  by 
Daniel  and  Jeremiah  Knight,  but  was  rebuilt  with 
greater  strength. 

When  it  came  into  possession  of  Chauncey  B. 
Knight  the  mill  was  entirely  renovated.  The  wooden 
machinery  was  taken  out,  and  the  latest  improve- 
ments, even  a  new  wheel,  introduced.  But  the 
water-power  was  soon  found  to  be  inadequate  to  the 
increased  dimension  of  the  wheel  and  heavier  ma- 
chinery, especially  in  a  dry  time.  This  led  its  owner 
to  build  a  steam-mill  in  the  village  near  the  depot, 
which  has  done  its  work  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  and  under  the  management  of  Messrs. 
Chas.  Knight  and  G-eo.  R.  Conklin  is  doing  yeoman 
service  to-day.  The  scene  now  is  very  different  from 
the  mill  scenes  of  seventy  years  ago,  when  the 
farmer's  boy  came  on  an  ambling  nag,  with  a  bag  of 
grain  divided  for  a  saddle,  and  the  plethoric  ends 
swinging  on  either  side.  The  dusty  miller,  after  nag- 
ging him,  helps  unload  and  swing  the  grist  within 
his  dusty  domain,  and  then  proceeds  to  toll  it  before  it 
is  emptied  into  the  hopper.  Now  the  farmer  drives  up 
with  sturdy  team,  weighs  it  on  the  platform  scale, 
himself  with  it,  and  straightway  loads  a  ton  or  two 


102       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

of  reed,  weighs,  drives  off  and  fills  his  bins  at  home, 
from  which  he  feeds  his  splendid  herd  with  the  inde- 
pendence of  a  lord  of  the  manor. 

It  is  related  that  a  portly  yeoman  expressed  some 
surprise  that  his  loaded  wagon  weighed  so  much 
more  than  he  expected.  "  Oh !  "  said  his  httle  grand- 
son, "  Grandpa,  yon  forget  yon  were  in  the  wagon, 
and  weighed  yourself." 

Another  well-remembered  mill  near  Monroe  village 
was  the  old  fulling-mill.  It  stood  on  the  bank  of 
the  Outlet  Brook,  near  the  mill-pond.  It  was  the 
property  of  Nicholas  and  afterwards  of  Daniel  Knight. 
The  history  of  its  acquisition  is  worthy  of  record. 
According  to  the  deed,  Philadelphia  Cock  sold  to 
Nicholas  Knight  her  one-half  dower  right  in  the 
property  —  the  fulling-mill-  and  house  and  181  acres 
of  land  —  for  the  consideration  of  five  shillings.  No 
doubt  there  must  have  been  some  unexplained  encum- 
brance assumed  by  the  purchaser. 

Now  this  mill,  after  running  many  years,  was  over- 
hauled and  put  in  order  by  the  late  Horace  Hall. 
Although  he  had  no  previous  experience,  he  repaired 
it  and  acquired  therefrom  a  reputation  for  hke  work 
throughout  the  neighborhood.  He  lived  to  tell  of  it 
until  recently,  when  he  died,  September  8, 1892,  in  his 
eighty-fourth  year. 

It  is  often  asked  by  the  present  generation.  Of 
what  use  is  a  fulhng-mill,  and  what  is  the  process 
of  fuUing? 

The  wool,  after  shearing  and  washing,  was  brought 
hither  by  the  good  dame  who  had  no  conveniences  at 
home,  nor  sufficient  skiU,  and  was  further  cleansed, 
bleached,  and  carded  by  great  cylindrical  cards  into 
rolls.     It  was   then   ready  for  spinning,  and   skilled 


Mills  and  Smithy.  103 

housewives  preferred  to  do  this  with  their  own  deft 
hands,  spinning-wheels  being  necessary  furniture 
of  every  well-regulated  household.  But  sometimes 
circumstances  rendered  it  expedient  to  have  the 
subsequent  processes  finished  at  the  mill.  It  was 
then  woven  into  cloth  or  blankets,  rolls  of  flan- 
nel, or  coverlets,  which  were  then  put  into  troughs  with 
fuller's  earth  or  suds  and  soaked  and  pounded,  then 
hung  on  frames  with  tenter-hooks  and  dried.  When 
it  had  been  thus  cleansed  and  shrunk,  it  was  folded 
and  laid  on  an  iron  table,  with  a  heavy  iron  plate  laid 
on  the  cloth,  while  a  powerful  screw  pressed  the 
plates  together  until  the  material  had  every  drop  of 
moisture  pressed  out  of  it  and  was  ready  for  the 
draper  and  tailor. 

This  was  an  important  industry  in  the  early  days, 
when  the  shears  and  knitting-needles  were  common 
implements,  and  great  factories  and  merchant  tailors 
were  unknown. 

The  old  house  that  belonged  to  the  fulling-mill  is 
still  standing,  just  beyond  the  road  across  the  pond. 
That  road  was  not  there  in  the  days  of  the  mill,  but 
was  built  about  1858. 

The  Seamanville  mill  is  an  old  one.  It  belonged 
to  Daniel  Miller,  who  is  remembered  as  the  person 
who  gave  the  land  on  which  the  old  Presbyterian 
church  stood,  and  the  present  bui'ial-ground.  It  had 
been  owned  and  operated  many  years  by  Charles 
Turner,  son  of  the  late  Peter  Turner.  The  mill  had 
the  reputation  of  grinding  very  fine  flour.  There 
were  a  sawmill  and  distillery  on  the  Still  Brook,  some 
of  the  timbers  of  which,  or  the  dam^  can  still  be  seen. 
So  at  Turners  there  was  an  old  sawmill,  and  after- 
wards a  grist-mill. 


104        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Highland  Mills  and  Tannery  have  been  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Cromwell  family  many  years,  and  have 
given  name  and  business  to  the  Lower  Clove. 

Other  mills  might  be  mentioned,  as,  for  instance, 
the  fishing-rod  and  tackle  factory  of  the  Messrs. 
Hall,  and  the  iron  bedstead  factory  at  Sonthfield. 
Few  parts  of  the  country  are  more  favored  than  this 
old  town  with  water-power  and  desirable  mill-seats. 

The  blacksmith  was  an  important  individual  in  a 
rural  community,  even  in  very  early  times.  The 
plow  had  to  be  shod,  tools  had  to  be  made;  for 
there  were  no  great  factories  in  those  days  to  turn 
out  tools  by  steam.  The  country  smith  made  the 
hoes  and  coulters  and  axes,  often  the  carving-knife  and 
chisel.  In  such  a  stony  country  the  horses  and  even 
the  oxen  must  be  shod.  The  shop  stood  by  some 
cross-road  to  catch  customers,  and  was  a  mere  shanty, 
but  the  resort  of  many  a  traveller  and  neighbor. 
They  come  with  broken  wagons  and  shoeless  horses, 
and  as  they  stand  under  the  grimy  shed  about  the 
glimmering  forge  their  voices  are  heard  above  the 
ringing  anvils  and  the  puffing  bellows.  Not  seldom 
are  important  questions  of  town  politics  and  social 
ethics  settled  here.  One  of  Rogers'  groups  repre- 
sents the  sturdy  smith  illustrating  a  siege  in  which 
he  took  part,  the  parallels  of  approach-  being  drawn 
in  the  scales  and  dust  at  the  foot  of  his  anvil. 

We  remember  that  when  our  village  geologist  visited 
the  shop  of  William  Hudson  he  discoursed  learnedly 
about  oxygen  and  hydi'Ogen.  But  the  man  of  the 
leathern  apron  said,  "  He  need  not  talk  to  me  about 
his  oxygen  and  cowdrogen,  for  I  do  not  believe  in 
them."  But  he  did  know  how  to  make  an  ax  or 
adz,  and  Hudson's  tools  were  the  best  in  the  market. 


Mills  and  Smithy.  105 

He  could  also  shape  and  temper  a  penknife  blade. 
He  had  never  heard  of  the  spectroscope,  yet  he 
would  watch  the  play  of  color  when  he  was  forging 
an  axe,  as  the  color  changed  from  straw  to  pink  and 
pink  to  blue,  and  when  the  desired  tint  was  reached 
out  he  would  snatch  it  and  plunge  it  into  oil  or  water, 
and  produce  a  choice  tool,  while  he  did  not  pretend 
to  any  scientific  explanation  of  the  process.  He 
died  of  apoplexy,  in  the  height  of  his  usefulness. 

Cortland  Rumsey,  of  Turners,  was  another  skilled 
workman  of  the  forge.  He  could  repair  even  so  deli- 
cate an  instrument  as  a  watch. 

He  also,  like  many  others,  felt  the  hand  of 
Death,  before  whom  the  strong  bow  themselves,  while 
the  fairest  wither  like  the  flowers  of  spring  touched 
by  the  frost. 


14 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


INNKEEPING. 


AMONGr  the  earliest  avocations  was  that  of  keep- 
jl\.  ing  houses  of  piibUc  entertainment.  Their 
evolution  has  been  the  reverse  of  some  others.  The 
ancient  caravansary  became  a  hostelry ;  that,  a  cof- 
fee-house ;  then  a  tavern ;  and  that  a  saloon,  where 
only  liquors  are  drunk  and  drunkards  made.  At 
that  stage  the  publican  becomes  the  synonym  of  sin- 
ner. But  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  or 
before  it  was  settled,  and  when  modes  of  travel  were 
primitive,  there  was  a  necessity  for  houses  of  enter- 
tainment where  the  traveller  could  stop  and  rest  his 
beast  and  refresh  himself.  If  there  was  a  bar,  it 
was  because  every  one  used  liquor  freely,  not  even 
excepting  the  minister.  People  travelled  then  on 
horseback,  or  by  private  conveyance,  or  by  stage- 
coach, which  had  its  regular  routes,  canying,  besides 
passengers,  the  United  States  mail.  Wherever  it 
was  convenient  for  such  to  stop  for  rest  or  change 
of  teams,  a  hostelry  would  spring  up.  All  the  way 
from  New  York,  on  the  great  stage  route,  were  such 
places  of  entertainment.  The  Clove  was  a  good 
day's  journey  from  the  city.  Starting  from  Hoboken 
in  the  morning,  travellers  would  find  it  convenient  to 
rest,  after  fifty  miles,  at  Monroe  village ;  hence  the 
importance  of  its  hotels.  There  was  one  at  the  old 
or  upper  village  very  early.     This  old  hostelry,  ac- 

106 


Innheeping.  107 

cording  to  Homo,  was  presided  over  at  different 
times  by  Brewster  Tuthill,  Isaac  Van  Duzer,  Peter 
Ball,  Daniel  Vail,  Sylvester  G-regory,  and  Hophni 
Smith.  Town  meetings  and  elections  were  held  at 
the  old  tavern,  and  many  were  the  questions  outside 
the  ballot-box  which  were  settled  in  blood  between  the 
athletes  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Cloves  and  South- 
field.  It  would  be  deemed  a  very  tame  election  in 
which  three  or  foiu*  of  these  contests  did  not  occur. 
It  had,  for  a  sign,  two  men ;  some  said  it  represented 
Aaron  Burr  and  Alexander  Hamilton  shaking  hands, 
something  that  modern  bruisers  do  before  they  fight, 
but  it  is  more  likely  it  was  the  landlord  welcoming  his 
guest.  When  Monroe  moved  to  its  present  site  the 
hotel  went  with  it,  and  was  kept  in  the  Wilham  Sea- 
man house.  Here  the  old  stage  would  rumble  up 
with  the  sound  of  bugle,  and  while  the  obsequious 
landlord  would  help  out  the  dust-covered  passenger, 
boots  would  snatch  bandbox  and  bundle,  horses 
would  be  changed,  the  mails  be  dehvered,  and  the 
whole  place  be  agog.  All  are  curious  to  see  the 
strangers  and  learn  the  news.  There  are  some 
anxious  faces,  parents  inquiring  after  absent  sons, 
friends  asking  in  regard  to  an  accident  or  battle, 
lovers  looking  for  letters;  but  the  scene  takes  on 
more  humorous  coloring  as  Jehu  jokes  with  the 
boys,  or  flirts  with  the  barmaid ;  or  the  old  bar-room 
loungers  come  up  to  be  treated  by  some  politician 
seeking  votes.  John  Van  Buren  came  thus  to 
Monroe,  and  apologized  for  pubhc  drinking  to  the 
tavern  loungers,  much  to  their  amusement.  The 
Monroe  Hotel  was  first  kept  by  De  Witt  McGarrah  ; 
afterwards,  at  the  newer  site,  by  John  Goff.  It  was 
here,  in  1854,  at  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  that  the 


108        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

toast  was  given,  "  The  Monroe  doctrine,  the  doctrine 
of  Monroe." 

Another  hotel  stood  where  the  Grranite  House  now 
is.  This  was  kept  by  the  father  of  David  Lynch. 
It  had  a  sign  painted  by  a  wandering  artist,  repre- 
senting on  one  side  a  high-stepping  horse,  elegantly 
caparisoned,  and  ridden  by  a  neatly  dressed  rider, 
who,  on  the  air  proceeding  from  his  mouth,  says, 
"  Am  going  to  law."  On  the  reverse  is  the  same 
horse,  spavined  and  starved,  while  the  man  walks  be- 
side, saying,  "I  have  been  to  law."  It  probably  told  the 
experience  of  mine  host,  as  of  many  others.  This 
sign  was  such  a  curiosity  that  visitors  were  usually 
taken  thither  to   see  this  work  of  an  old  master. 

There  was  another  hotel  at  the  other  end  of  the 
village,  to  intercept  the  traveller  from  the  other  di- 
rection. It  stood  where  Alfred  Carpenter's  house 
stands.  It  is  related  that  the  lazy  landlord  would 
send  a  boy  to  lead  a  traveller's  horse  up  and  down 
the  scrub-oaks  when  he  wanted  him  curried.  There 
were  plenty  of  such  curry-combs  in  those  parts  then. 
It  is  also  related  that  a  lady  and  her  daughter  were 
riding  from  church  on  horseback ;  they  took  refuge 
from  a  shower  under  the  hotel  shed;  when  the 
young  lady  looked  down  upon  her  white  dress,  what 
was  her  disgust  to  see  it  covered  with  fleas !  We 
are  glad  to  say  substantial  dwellings  and  happy 
homes  occupy  all  these  sites  now.  Other  routes 
through  the  Clove  had  places  of  entertainment  well 
known  at  the  time ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  hotels 
of  John  Coffey,  George  Wilkes,  John  Galloway,  and 
M.  Dickerman. 

These  were  on  the  lower  road,  the  grand  route  to 
Newburg  and  the  river  towns.  Through  this  beau- 
tiful valley  rumbled    the  Albany  coaches,  carrying 


Innheeping.  109 

many  a  celebrity  of  the  State,  army,  and  society. 
But  now  all  is  changed,  the  splendid  trains  of  the 
Erie  Railway  sweeping  back  and  forth,  bearing 
freight  and  passengers,  like  the  countless  corpuscles 
of  an  artery,  to  the  great  life  centres  beyond.  Nor 
would  a  history  of  public  entertainment  be  complete 
without  mention  of  Peter  Turner,  who  had  the  fore- 
sight to  perceive  that  the  Erie  Road  would  have  to 
pass  through  the  Clove,  and  would  need  an  eating- 
station  within  fifty  miles  of  New  York ;  hence  his 
choice  of  the  location  now  called  by  his  name.  Here 
he  had  a  sawmill  first,  then  erected  a  grist-mill ; 
afterwards  he  built  the  hotel  at  the  bottom  of  the 
hill.  His  restaurant  was  well  known  by  every  trav- 
eller, and  was  famed  for  its  coffee  and  crullers.  This 
afterwards  developed  into  the  splendid  Orange  Hotel, 
which  was  under  railroad  management,  the  moving 
spirit  of  which  was  the  late  James  Turner,  son  of 
Peter  Turner.  This  fine  structure  was  burned,  and 
the  old  hotel  and  restaurant  recovered  their  ancient 
and  unrivalled  fame. 

The  late  George  Goff  informed  me  that  his  father, 
Michael  Groff,  kept  a  house  of  entertainment  on  the 
old  Bloomingdale  road,  just  out  of  New  York,  before 
he  moved  to  Central  Valley ;  and  that  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  the  Irish  patriot,  when  banished,  was  enter- 
tained by  him.  The  best  rooms  were  given  up  to 
him  and  his  suite.  Mine  host  and  his  family  took 
the  rooms  over  the  stables.  George  Goff  was  born 
during  the  time,  "  hke  his  Master,"  as  he  used  to  say, 
"in  a  stable."  Michael  Goff  afterwards  removed  to 
Central  Valley,  where  his  son  John  Goff  was  born, 
who  bought  the  hotel  at  Monroe,  one  of  the  best- 
known  in  the  county.  He  married  Phoebe,  the  sister 
of  Peter  Turner,  but  left  no  children  to  succeed  him 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


MEECHANDIZING. 


ANOTHER  occupation  early  in  vogue  was  that  of 
-^jL  mercliandizing ;  first  the  peddler  came  through, 
hke  Harvey  Birch,  with  his  pack  of  wares.  He 
would  spread  out  his  trinkets  and  gaudy  kerchiefs 
to  captivate  the  servant,  with  tapes  and  needles,  a 
tablecloth  or  dress  pattern,  for  mistress,  a  jackknife 
for  the  boy,  or  "  specs  "  for  the  old  man.  There  was 
more  of  respectabihty  about  it  then.  Indeed,  in  the 
old  country  the  peddler  was  the  Christian  colpor- 
teur, conveying  secretly  the  sacred  classics  to  Swiss 
chalets  nesthng  in  deep  glens  or  on  dizzy  crags.  The 
coming  of  the  travelhng  merchant  was  always  wel- 
come, and  was  rewarded  with  rest  and  refreshment. 
But  as  wants  multiply,  something  more  permanent 
and  expensive  is  needed ;  hence  the  country  store. 
Look  in  on  its  bewildering  variety  of  goods.  You 
can  hardly  get  in,  for  the  boxes  and  samples  of  vege- 
tables and  fruits.  Your  progress  is  impeded  within 
by  cases  of  shoes  and  enormous  boots.  There  are 
showcases  containing  all  sorts  of  ribbons,  laces,  em- 
broideries, with  all  those  little  dainty  things  called 
notions  by  the  fairer  part  of  creation.  Vis-a-vis  with 
them  is  another,  catering  to  coarser  tastes :  full  of  pipes 

110 


Merchandizing.  Ill 

and  snuff -boxes,  cigars  and  tobacco,  colored  sticks  of 
candy  and  bull's-eyes.  Gaudy  prints  adorn  the  coun- 
ters on  one  side,  while  the  shelves  are  plethoric  with 
textures  to  suit  every  age  and  taste,  from  overalls 
for  father  to  pinafore  for  "  sis  "  ;  from  a  lawn  for  the 
bride  to  a  scarf  for  the  dominie.  In  battle  array,  on 
the  other  side,  are  all  sorts  of  hardware,  from  a 
sickle  to  a  razor,  a  monkey-wrench  to  a  carpet- tack. 
Further  on  are  gi'oceries,  wet  and  dry  :  tea,  coffee, 
molasses,  vinegar,  starch,  candles,  sugar,  bacon,  cod- 
fish, and  mackerel.  Overhead  are  all  descriptions 
of  tinware  and  bits  of  sheet-iron  for  stovepipe,  for 
the  merchant  must  do  some  of  the  work  of  the  tinker. 
Harness  and  saddles  and  horse-blankets  are  for  sale 
till  the  harness-maker  comes.  Then  there  are  seeds 
and  bulbs  and  plants ;  often  hay  and  feed.  What  a 
medley  of  smells,  particularly  in  the  cellar,  where  are 
the  cheese  and  butter,  fish  and  pork,  and  oils  for 
paint  or  illumination! 

The  store  is  an  attractive  place  in  a  country  vil- 
lage. Women  come  to  shop,  but  men  love  to  sit  on 
the  barrels  and  talk  and  smoke,  or  eat  crackers  and 
cheese.  All  the  petty  happenings  of  the  village  are 
brought  to  hght  and  discussed.  One  old  man  de- 
clared that  he  could  not  stub  his  toe  behind  the  barn, 
or  his  old  cat  have  kittens,  but  some  one  would  re- 
port it. 

When  Mr.  Goff  fell  into  his  well,  he  bet  that  before 
he  was  dry  some  one  would  report  it. 

When  political  campaigns  were  rife,  discussions 
would  run  high,  and  sharp  words  be  spoken.  On 
one  occasion  two  neighbors  were   discussing  some 

question ;  one  of  them  said :  "  You  lie under  a 

mistake."     At  first  the  other  was  ready  for  a  blow ; 


112       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

but  when  he  heard  the  entire  sentence  he  relented, 
saying :  "  Next  time  I  want  you  to  put  your  words  a 
httle  closer  together."  We  recollect  a  man  from  the 
mountain  coming  in  and  asking  if  the  merchant  had 
any  superb  cheese.  Just  then  a  young  man  burst 
into  a  laugh.  "  Who  is  he  ?  "  said  the  irate  customer. 
When  informed  he  said :  "  He  is  a  pusillanimous 
poor  creetur'."  A  young  druggist  came  to  town  and 
started  business.  He  was  inchned  to  be  somewhat 
stilted  in  phraseology,  and  would  talk  of  things  in 
juxtaposition.  Stepping  into  a  store  where  the  late 
Matthew  B.  Swezey  was  busy,  he  inquired  what  he 
was  doing.  He  replied :  "  I  am  extracting  the  sugar 
from  this  barrel,  and  it  is  so  contiguous  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  barrel,  I  am  rather  ambiguous  whether  I 
can  extricate  it."  A  pebble  was  handed  me  by  one 
who  had  read  a  little  of  Lyell  or  Hitchcock,  and  an 
answer  desired  as  to  its  nature.  I  described  it  as  a 
water- washed  pebble  of  milky  quartz,  veined  with 
graywacke.  "You  're  mistaken,"  said  he;  "it  is  the 
petrified  fruit  of  the  Lepidodendron."  One  of  the 
merchants  had  sent  up  a  pattern  of  rather  gaudy  vel- 
veteen to  the  house  of  a  Friend,  for  what  was  called 
a  waistcoat.  Next  day  his  wife  returned  it,  with  the 
remark  that  it  was  not  comely,  as  it  was  "  all  vanity 
and  moss."  "  I  want  some  Merrimac  calico,"  said  a 
lady.  Several  pieces  were  exhibited.  She  astonished 
the  salesman  by  saying :  "  You  call  it  Merrimac,  but 
I  '11  guarantee  it  was  made  in  this  country."  One  even- 
ing, when  a  store  was  closed,  the  frequenters  of  the 
store  brought  out  a  pack  of  cards  and  began  to  play. 
They  were  regarded  then  with  such  holy  horror,  that 
they  were  played  clandestinely,  as  the  very  work  of 
the  devil.     On  the  occasion  referred  to  the  minister 


Merchandizing.  113 

visited  the  store  rather  late.  Seeing  a  light,  he  en- 
tered, when,  lo !  the  contraband  was  out  of  sight,  nor 
would  have  been  suspected,  had  not  one  of  the  old 
gentlemen  naively  said :  "  Well,  you  nearly  ketched 
the  boys  playing  kiards ! " 

The  early  groceryman  sold  hquor  from  his  store. 
Before  the  temperance  reform  it  was  customary  so 
to  do.  Nor  was  it  a  small  part  of  their  trade.  Then 
it  was  considered  necessary  to  take  a  drop  of  some- 
thing for  every  ailment  and  almost  every  stage  of 
duty.  The  nurse  must  wash  the  baby  in  it ;  the  old 
man  must  take  it  for  his  nightcap.  The  harvesters 
must  have  it  in  the  field.  The  goodwif  e  must  have  a 
little  to  keep  off  the  megrims,  and  even  the  minis- 
ter did  not  refuse  what  he  called  spiritual  refresh- 
ment. It  is  not  strange  to  find,  upon  looking  over 
some  of  the  old  books,  the  frequent  repetition  of 
such  items  as  "  N.  E.  Rum,  Apple-jack,  Brandy  and 
Cider."  These,  with  tobacco,  were  the  largest  pur- 
chases of  some  of  the  mountaineers  and  miners. 
Whenever  there  was  a  little  balance  over,  it  used  to  be 
said  that  they  took  it  out  in  these  poisons.  But  time 
has  wrought  a  change  for  the  better,  and  a  corner 
grocery  for  the  sale  of  liquor  belongs  to  the  regions 
of  barbarism  or  caricature. 

The  first  store  in  Monroe  was  at  the  upper  village, 
and  was  kept  by  Timothy  Little,  who  married  a 
daughter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Baldwin.  His  successors  were 
Griffen  and  Yyle,  with  Matthew  B.  Swezey  for  clerk. 
When  business  forsook  the  upper  village  and  settled 
around  the  present  site,  John  McGrarrah  built  the 
hotel  for  his  son  De  Witt,  and  a  storehouse  for 
himself. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  regard  to  the  father  of 
15 


114       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

John  McGrarrah  and  great-grandfatlier  of  Messrs. 
Theodore  and  Eugene,  that  he  was  a  member  of  the 
State  legislature  when  the  Erie  Canal  bill  was  before 
that  body,  and  that  he  voted  for  the  bill.  But  for 
that  enlightened  act  he  was  burned  in  ef&gy  by  his 
political  opponents ! 

On  the  opposite  corner  was  the  store  of  Matthew 
B.  Swezey,  who  sold  out  to  Chauncey  B.  Knight, 
the  former  continuing  as  his  clerk. 

Grates  W.  McGarrah  built  a  store  at  the  further 
end  of  the  village,  where,  in  1843,  he  conducted  busi- 
ness till  1847,  when  he  died,  much  respected  as  a 
merchant  and  beloved  by  friends. 

Henry  Bertholf  succeeded  him,  and  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  sons  of  Mr.  Gates  McGrarrah,  Theodore 
and  Eugene,  who  conducted  the  store  in  partnership 
for  many  years  ;  it  at  last  closing  out  with  the  latter, 
February,  1896. 

Chauncey  B.  Knight  built  the  brick  store  on  the 
railroad  corner  in  1853,  and  occupied  it  until  1858, 
when  he  moved  across  the  track  and  entered  upon  the 
railroad  business.  William  S.  Howell  succeeded  him. 
He  took  Jesse  Strong  in  partnership.  Manning  F. 
Ten  Eyck  and  Horace  Swezey  were  clerks.  B. 
F.  Montanye  succeeded.  Afterward  the  store  was 
burned,  and  two  handsome  brick  stores  took  its  place, 
one  built  by  Geo.  B,eed,  the  other  by  G.  W.  Conk- 
lin.  These  became,  respectively,  a  drug-store  and  a 
store  for  general  merchandise.  The  drug-store  was 
burned,  but  has  since  been  rebuilt,  making  altogether 
a  noble  block. 

In  the  latter  building  are  offices  and  lodge-rooms, 
toilet-room,  and  water-power  for  different  uses.  The 
department  store  of  Paddlef ord  &  Co.  is  on  the  main 
floor. 


Merchandizing.  115 

Tlie  moving  spirit  of  this  last  enterprise  is  Geo.  R. 
Conklin,  who  with  Chas.  T.  Knight  has  a  feed-store 
and  steam-mill  opposite,  where  from  that  centre  they 
manage  branch  estabUshments  at  Chester,  Groshen, 
Warwick,  and  Vernon  in  a  neighboring  State ;  while 
they  advise  with  two  of  Monroe's  sons  in  like  busi- 
ness at  Florida,  N.  Y.  Thus  this  little  village  has 
wide-awake  business  men  and  appliances.  Gilbert 
Carpenter,  also  on  the  diagonal  corner,  not  to  be  out- 
done, has  placed  in  his  feed-store  a  telephone  ex- 
change plant  by  which  a  dozen  neighbors  can  not 
merely  send  orders,  but  converse  privately  together, 
even  playing  over  a  piece  of  music  or  detailing  a  bit 
of  domestic  news.  Soon  he  expects  to  extend  his 
hne  so  as  to  take  in  the  wide,  wide  world. 

William  Bertholf  has  his  tin  and  stove  store,  but 
from  it  also  go  out  the  wires  of  the  Postal  Telegraph, 
operated  by  his  brother  Frank. 

Thus  Monroe  is  true  to  its  antecedents,  and  follows 
up  the  footprints  and  spirit  of  the  scientific  minds  of 
the  olden  time. 

Henry  Mapes  dealt  out  drugs  for  many  years,  but 
has  taken  up  business  of  a  nature  more  grave. 

John  Gregory  is  worthy  of  mention.  He  is  the 
only  surviving  merchant  of  the  ancient  past.  He  is 
upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age,  and  conducted  the  har- 
ness business  more  than  fifty  years  ago  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  village.  About  1870  he  built  a  fine  store 
and  dwelling  nearer  the  railroad,  and  there  has  re- 
sided since.  His  son  Lester  has  changed  the  busi- 
ness, but  his  venerable  father  now  alone  wends  his 
way  to  post-offi.ce  and  church,  to  find  in  this  last, 
as  of  yore,  the  rest  that  comes  to  the  weary.  We 
could  speak  of  others,  younger,  but  they  must  wait 
until  some  new  historian  is  born. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


SCHOOLS  AND   EDUCATION. 


THE  earliest  mention  of  a  school  in  Monroe  is  of 
one  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  building  at 
Seamanville.  After  that  a  log  school-house  was 
built  just  west  of  the  church.  John  Brooks  went 
to  school  here.  Kinney  McManus  was  the  master, 
and  he  was  a  weaver  by  trade.  He  knew  how  to  ply 
the  shuttle  of  education  as  well,  and  fasten  at  least 
the  three  R's  into  the  texture  of  the  child  mind. 
Here  oui'  poet  and  philosopher  got  his  first  start  in 
education.  The  stone  school-house  followed,  built 
of  Houser  iron-stone,  a  peculiar  rock  of  this  vicinage, 
well  adapted  for  the  purpose,  because  the  irrepres- 
sible jackknife  could  make  no  impression  upon  it. 
Hiram  Dean,  or  Danes,  is  remembered  by  some  when 
a  dreadful  wen  had  di'iven  him  into  retirement  to  a 
little  cabin  on  Ryder  Hill.  He  was  a  man  of  limited 
education,  but  a  good  penman.  John  Brooks  was 
one  of  the  teachers  there ;  also  his  brother  Fletcher. 
The  former  prided  himself,  next  to  scholarship,  upon 
the  art  of  making  a  quill  pen.  James  Cromwell  and 
John  also  wielded  the  sceptre  here;  also  Simpson 
and  O'Strander,  David  Lynch  and  Andrew  Van 
Valer,  McCullough  and  Brewster  Tuthill.  These 
were  followed  by  Murray,  of  whom  the  wits  said : 

116 


Schools  and  Education.  117 

"Nothing  was  made  in  vain,  since  Murray  could 
sing." 

The  teacher  of  that  day,  said  one  of  them,"  ferruled 
the  scholars,  mended  pens,  set  copies,  and  made  his  ink 
of  white-oak  bark,  at  the  close  of  the  school."  He 
boarded  around,  and  collected  his  own  dues — namely, 
$12  a  month.  The  school-house  was  heated  by  a 
fireplace.  An  incident  is  remembered  of  the  cotton 
clothing  of  a  little  girl  taking  fire,  after  which  the 
teacher  requested  the  parents  to  dress  their  children 
in  woolen  clothes.  The  text-books  were  the  Eng- 
hsh  "  Reader,"  DaboU's  "  Arithmetic  "  and  "  Colum- 
bian Orator,"  and  Murray's  "  Grammar."  We  have 
forgotten  to  mention  that  he  said  the  teacher  would 
sometimes  thresh  out  several  shocks  of  rye,  to  eke 
out  a  UveHhood  and  keep  his  hand  in  good  trim  for 
disciphne. 

Education  at  that  day  was  compulsory  in  a  differ- 
ent sense  from  the  present.  The  master's  sceptre 
was  the  ferrule, —  a  rod  bound  at  the  end  with  a  ring 
of  iron, —  hence  called  a  ferrule,  from  ferrum^  iron. 

The  iron-stone  of  the  school-house  was  significant, 
and  a  type  of  the  ages.  Here  the  hues  of  Goldsmith 
well  apply : 

"  There,  in  his  noisy  mansion,  skilled  to  rule, 
The  village  master  taught  his  little  school. 
A  man  severe  he  was,  and  stern  to  view ; 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew. " 

Playing  truant  was  not  uncommon  in  days  when 
education  was  made  so  dreary,  and  was  punished 
with  severity.  The  swimming-pool,  the  orchard  and 
the  woods  offered  great  temptations  to  the  little  pris- 
oners.    On   the  other  hand,  the  hill  and  toboggan- 


118       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

slide  and  the  ball-game  had  their  counter  attractions, 
and  many  a  jolly  carnival  had  the  boys  and  girls  to- 
gether, raising  shouts  that  made  the  very  welkin  ring. 

Among  them  were  scholars  who  caught  a  gUmpse 
of  the  value  of  education,  and  prized  the  book  more 
than  the  ball.  Despite  the  obstacles  that  lie  along 
the  path  of  learning,  nevertheless,  they  scaled  its 
heights  and  enrolled  their  names  in  the  Temple  of 
Fame.  The  teacher  often  had  as  thorny  a  road  as 
the  scholar.  When  he  had  to  board  out  his  little 
stipend  he  sometimes  had  hard  fare.  One  we  knew 
was  forced  to  take  up  his  quarters  in  a  log  barn,  and 
was  tormented  all  night  long  by  the  serenading  of  the 
cats  that  haunted  the  place.  Some  made  themselves 
at  home  anywhere,  careful,  however,  to  select  the 
good  places,  where  they  were  quick  to  find  the  apple- 
bin,  nut-closet,  and  cider-barrel. 

Nor  was  he  slow  to  learn  the  good  qualities  of  the 
farmer's  daughter,  and  by  and  by  come  and  claim 
her  for  his  bride. 

When  the  district  grew  larger  there  was  a  demand 
for  more  room.  Then  they  rose  up  and  built  a  new 
school-house,  a  few  rods  further  south.  This  time 
they  chose  wood  for  the  material.  They  set  it  on 
the  roadside,  far  from  the  temptation  of  brook  or 
orchard,  and  where  the  milk- wagon  could  easily  pick 
them  up  at  the  close  of  school.  They  put  a  belfry  on 
it,  but  hung  no  bell.  The  oaken  benches  of  the  old 
school-house  were  exchanged  for  seats  and  desks 
suited  to  the  sizes  of  the  children.  But  the  ABC 
was  still  often  driven  in  like  nails,  as  the  children 
sung,  and  one  of  the  pupils  who  was  polished  off 
there  testifies. 

But  mental,  like  vital,  force  is  invincible,  and  out 


Schools  and  Education.  119 

of  this  institute,  as  one  of  the  teachers  dignified  it, 
graduated  a  goodly  company  who  have  done  brave 
work  in  many  walks  of  life.  A  remnant  of  these 
call  themselves  "  the  old  school,"  and  deUght  to  meet 
occasionally  and  recall  the  episodes  of  school  life 
over  the  historic  cup  "that  cheers  but  not  inebri- 
ates." The  teachers  of  this  day,  too,  were  strong, 
enthusiastic,  and  made  the  best  of  the  imperfect  ap- 
pliances and  methods  of  the  time.  At  the  head  we 
place  the  name  of  Brewster  Tuthill,  a  man  of  strong 
individuahty  and  iron  will,  who  would  brook  no 
drones  in  his  little  hive. 

Among  the  many  who  taught  in  that  school-house 
was  one  who,  in  the  judgment  of  one  of  his  pupils, 
excelled  them  all.  This  was  the  Rev.  John  J.  Thomp- 
son, pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  taught 
five  days  in  the  week,  and  preached  on  the  Sabbath. 
His  pupil  says  :  "  As  a  teacher  he  could  not  be  ex- 
celled; as  a  man,  noble,  pure,  unselfish,  living  only 
for  the  good  of  others.  He  was  the  type  of  a  perfect 
Christian  gentleman." 

Daniel  Hallock  held  the  post  for  a  number  of 
years, — a  man  severe,  but  skilled  to  rule.  Neil  Camp- 
bell brought  the  fervor  of  the  "  canny  Scot "  to  his 
task,  loved  his  profession,  and  let  his  benevolent 
heart  and  hand  reach  to  the  poor  during  the  plague 
of  the  cholera.  He  exchanged  the  teacher's  vocation 
for  that  of  merchant,  married  one  of  his  pupils,  and 
died  early.  Mr.  Hawkhurst  made  companions  of  his 
pupils,  took  part  in  their  skirmishes  and  sports,  yet 
maintained  all  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the 
master,  and  so  was  reckoned  a  successful  teacher. 
He  afterwards  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 


120        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Our  friend  George  K.  Smith  brought  the  experi- 
ence of  the  farm  into  school  hfe  and  estabhshed  a 
reputation  as  a  skilful  instructor,  securing  for  him- 
self the  position  of  school  commissioner,  which  he 
held  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  playfully  called 
Harvey  Birch,  because  during  the  later  years  of  peda- 
gogic life  "  the  law  of  love  outlived  the  rusted  rod." 
With  him  teaching  was  not  a  stepping-stone  to  some- 
thing more  lucrative,  but  he  pursued  his  profession 
till  he  entered  the  shade  of  honorable  retirement  and 
cheery  companionship,  in  a  beautiful  home  near  the 
scene  of  his  toils. 

Mr.  Baker  will  also  be  remembered  among  the 
teachers  of  this  time,  from  the  circumstance  of  the 
change  of  his  name  to  Knickerbocker,  by  the  State 
legislature,  for  personal  reasons. 

After  a  while  (1857)  the  district  outgrows  the  yel- 
low school-house,  and  the  demand  comes  for  more 
room.  Then  occurs  one  of  those  disturbances  of  the 
public  mind  which  always  attends  the  discussion  of 
the  question  of  a  new  school-house.  Some  want  the 
old  enlarged;  others  want  the  old  rebuilt  on  the 
same  site.  Villagers  want  it  in  the  village;  some 
are  afraid  of  the  gardens  and  the  noise,  and  would 
see  it  as  far  away  as  possible.  The  stone-age  people 
want  it  of  stone;  the  wooden,  of  wood.  A  compro- 
mise was  effected  after  a  stormy  time.  A  lot  was 
bought  from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  on  condition 
of  building  a  fence  between  the  lots.  The  posts 
were  set,  nothing  further  done.  The  lower  story  of 
the  building  was  built  of  stone,  to  please  the  stone- 
age  people,  and  the  upper  story  of  wood,  to  satisfy 
the  others.  The  abecedarians  were  under  the  care 
of  a  lady  teacher  below,  and  the  grammar  classes 


Schools  and  Education.  121 

were  upstairs,  under  the  care  of  a  male  teacher,  who 
was  also  principal.  The  method  of  education  takes 
a  stride  forward  now.  It  is  more  analytical.  As 
one  of  the  teachers  said,  "  I  teach  my  scholars  to  tear 
sentences  all  to  pieces  and  get  at  their  construction 
and  meaning."  It  is  now  more  of  a  system  of  edu- 
cation, drawing  from  the  mind  what  it  knows.  In 
other  words,  it  is  taught  how  to  think,  the  point  at 
which  true  learning  begins.  A  wide-awake  teacher 
named  Kane  marked  this  period  of  transition  from 
the  old  to  the  new.  Mr.  Robert  F.  Todd  succeeded 
him.  He  was  a  most  thorough  educator  and  dis- 
ciplinarian. He  married  Miss  Louisa  McGrarrah, 
entered  mercantile  business,  and  has  since  died. 
Mr.  Greorge  N.  Greene  was  a  teacher  much  beloved. 
One  of  his  favorite  phrases  for  the  profession  was 
that  of  "  mental  gunnery,"  or  "  teaching  the  young 
idea  how  to  shoot."  He  married  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Seaman,  and  entered  a  partnership  with  her  father, 
WiUiam  Seaman,  in  mercantile  business  in  the  village. 

Myron  D.  Stewart  succeeded  Mr.  Greene,  and  left 
a  good  record  both  as  a  man  and  teacher.  He  pos- 
sessed considerable  individuality,  mental  force  and 
magnetism.  He  was  a  good  disciplinarian,  and  yet 
his  scholars  loved  him.  His  patriotism  was  very 
marked  during  the  troublous  times  of  the  Civil  War. 
He  was  called  to  be  principal  of  one  of  the  Middle- 
town,  N.  Y.,  schools,  where  he  died  at  his  post  at  an 
early  age,  and  loftiest  tributes  were  paid  his  memory 
by  pupils  and  comrades  of  his  profession  as  well  as 
his  pastors. 

Then  a  candidate  for  the  school,  although  a  grad- 
uate of  Yale,  was  refused,  on  account  of  his  juvenile 
appearance ;  Mr.  Kirby  was  chosen,  although  he  was 
16 


122        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

still  more  youtMul.  He  disappointed  none.  He, 
after  years  of  service  here,  was  made  professor  at 
Cornell,  and  sometime  was  geologist  to  the  Emperor 
of  Brazil. 

Mr.  Owen  enlivened  his  instructions  with  the  pop- 
ular college  songs,  and  stepped  from  the  birch  to  the 
quill,  becoming  editor  of  the  "  Fishkill  Journal." 

Mr.  M.  N.  Kane  was  one  of  the  most  thorough  and 
efficient  of  these  teachers,  a  great  enthusiast  in  his 
school  work,  and  winning  the  encomiums  of  many  pa- 
trons. He  afterwards  studied  law  and  entered  upon 
a  large  law  practice  in  this  village  and  in  Warwick.  He 
showed  his  appreciation  of  Monroe  by  wedding  one 
of  the  former  pupils  of  the  school.  Miss  Emma  Boyd. 
Mr.  Arthur  Knox  followed  his  example  by  marrying 
Miss  Sarah  Charlton,  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frank  Charlton.  He,  too,  did  excellent  work  as  prin- 
cipal of  Monroe  Academy.  He  afterwards  studied 
law,  but  preferred  the  profession  of  teaching,  which 
he  has  followed  at  the  city  of  Binghamton,  N.  Y., 
with  honor  and  success. 

Mr.  N.  B.  Chase  was  very  highly  esteemed  as  an 
accomplished  teacher.  After  his  term  here  he  took 
charge  of  a  school  at  Cornwall,  N.  Y.,  where  his  long 
continuance  shows  rare  staying  quahties. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Brownell  was  a  scholar  of  winning  mod- 
esty but  high  scholarship.  He  afterwards  taught  at 
Chester,  N.  Y.,  and  turned  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  medicine,  and  is  reported  to  have  a  good  practice 
in  Brooklyn. 

Mr.  A.  Magoris  must  not  be  forgotten.  After  a 
splendid  record  as  teacher,  he  studied  medicine  and 
became  a  specialist  in  his  profession,  giving  atten- 
tion especially  to  the  ear  and  eye.  His  office  is  at 
Binghamton,  N.  Y. 


Schools  and  Education.  123 

The  Academy  had  also  many  lady  teachers  who 
are  held  in  high  esteem — namely,  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Seaman,  afterwards  Green;  Miss  Elizabeth  Boyd, 
afterwards  Still ;  Miss  Elizabeth  Webb,  afterwards 
McGarrah ;  Miss  Elsie  Currington,  afterwards  Smith ; 
Miss  Mary  E.  Knight,  afterwards  Conkhn ;  Miss  Carrie 
Conkhn ;  and  Miss  Sarah  Howell,  who  held  her  posi- 
tion as  principal  of  the  primary  department  for  an 
unexampled  term  of  years,  thus  showing  her  ability 
not  merely  to  be  content,  but  to  please.  Many  are 
the  graduates  of  the  school  to-day  who  hold  her  in 
loving  remembrance,  and  are  grateful  to  her  for 
teaching  them  not  merely  how  to  navigate  the  sea  of 
science,  but  to  honor  the  needle  in  the  home  hfe. 
She  emulated  the  example  of  Dorcas  in  having  her 
class  make  up  comforts  for  the  poor.  She  thus 
showed  that  she  had  the  right  view  of  education, 
namely,  not  merely  teaching  the  three  R's,  but  char- 
acter-building, fitting  them  for  this  workaday  world 
of  want  and  suffering. 

Now,  in  the  year  1884,  after  the  usual  agitation,  it 
was  resolved  to  abandon  the  old  stone  and  wooden 
structure  and  build  a  new  one  out  on  Main  street, 
on  the  breezy  hill  north  of  the  village.  The  new 
building  is  of  comely  architecture,  commodious,  well 
equipped  with  convenient  class  and  assembly  rooms, 
handsome  furniture,  and  every  appliance  necessary 
for  the  present  improved  methods  of  education.  It 
is  well  lighted,  heated,  and  ventilated.  It  has  been 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  Union  Graded  Academy, 
and  attracts  pupils  from  surrounding  districts.  Its 
principal,  Eichenberg,  is  one  who  achieved  distinc- 
tion in  one  of  the  schools  of  the  old  town,  namely, 
Turners,  and  therefore  may  be  supposed  to  be  almost 
"  to  the  manner  born."    He  has  an  accomphshed  staff 


124        Chronicles  of  Moyiroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

of  lady  educators,  worthy  successors  of  those  re- 
cently mentioned,  keeping  up  the  reputation  of  Mon- 
roe for  a  desire  to  reach  a  high  standard  of  education. 
An  interesting  ceremony  of  dedication  was  held,  in 
which  the  clergy  and  prominent  citizens  took  part. 

One  of  the  speakers  said,  "  Let  us  call  it  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Wingless  Victory ;  for  as  at  Athens  it  was 
said,  Wisdom  is  now  come  to  stay,  and  laid  aside  her 
wings.  And  so  they  built  to  her  the  little  temple 
that  hears  that  name  on  Mars  Hill." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


PHYSIC  AND   PHYSICIANS. 


THE  Indians  had  their  medicine-men,  a  strange 
mixture  of  empiricism  and  superstition.  They 
did  know  the  virtues  of  many  herbs,  and  so  far  as 
this  part  of  their  pharmacopoeia  was  concerned,  the 
practice  based  upon  it  was  of  value  in  the  absence  of 
more  scientific  knowledge.  When  the  white  man 
came,  he  had  the  same  need,  and  even  more,  for  the 
healing  art.  Bringing  no  physician  with  him,  and 
remote  from  any,  he  would  have  recourse  to  the 
Indian  to  learn  the  names  and  uses  of  the  herbs 
about  him,  and,  if  observing,  would  bring  to  his  aid 
old  remembered  remedies,  the  nostrums  of  his  ances- 
tors, and  add  a  few  discoveries  or  experiences  of 
his  own.  Thus  there  would  arise  some  men,  and 
oftener  women,  who  would  be  a  sort  of  authority  in 
cases  of  sickness  or  disease.  The  remedies  and  methods 
of  some  of  these  self-constituted  doctors  were  often 
absurd  and  nauseating.  One  old  dame  cured  burns 
with  powwowing  over  the  patient.  Another  applied 
a  carrot  poultice.  Fish-worms  dissolved  in  whisky 
was  their  sovereign  remedy  for  fever  and  ague,  but 
the  patient  preferred  to  bait  his  fish-hook  with  the 
worms  and  take  the  whisky   straight.     White-oak 

125 


126        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

bark  peeled  upwards  from  the  south  side  of  the  tree 
was  given  as  an  emetic,  and  peeled  downward  as 
a  cathartic.  Tansy,  feverfew  and  catnip  were  favor- 
ite remedies  of  nearly  every  housewife,  while  hem- 
lock seed  was  sown  by  one  at  every  corner,  the 
minister  getting  a  double  portion.  Picra  was  given 
every  spring  as  a  tonic.  It  came  to  be  associated 
with  the  Shorter  Catechism,  because  often  adminis- 
tered together,  the  result  being  that  both  were  put 
in  the  same  category.  It  was  some  time  before  the 
educated  physician  came  in,  and  when  he  did  he 
had  no  little  prejudice  to  contend  with.  He  often 
found,  instead  of  taking,  they  were  ready  to  give 
advice.  It  was  not  unusual  for  the  physician  to 
find  his  prescriptions  superseded  by  the  nostrums 
of  some  grandam,  or  himself  bowed  out  to  make 
way  for  some  charlatan,  with  his  pain-killers  and 
magic  madstone  and  wizard  oil.  It  was  a  common 
prejudice  to  regard  the  art  of  healing  as  a  matter 
of  empirical  craft,  rather  than  of  scientific  study 
and  investigation.  To  some  it  was  claimed  it  was 
a  divine  gift,  and,  if  a  seventh  son  of  a  seventh 
son,  a  touch  was  sufficient  to  heal  even  scrofula. 
These  people  knew  more  than  all  the  doctors.  It 
was  enough  for  one  of  these  magicians  to  hold  a  hair 
of  a  distant  patient  to  diagnose  the  disease  and  pre- 
scribe unerrmg  remedies.  The  mountebank  once 
declared  officially  that  quinine  would  eat  away  the 
bones  if  taken  as  prescribed  by  the  regular  prac- 
titioner. But  there  were  often  well-intended  inter- 
ferences, by  visitors  or  members  of  the  patient's  fam- 
ily, which  were  exceedingly  exasperating  at  times. 
On  one  occasion  one  of  the  disciples  of  ^sculapius 
was  portioning  out  a  powder  for  a  patient,  when  a 


Physic  and  Physicians.  127 

kind-hearted  little  woman  put  her  hand  on  the  doc- 
tor's shoulder,  and  said,  "Now,  doctor,  don't  give  him 
anything  ha'sh."  He  sprang  to  his  feet  indignantly, 
and  said,  "  Who  is  doing  this  ?  "  In  the  olden  time 
the  physician  carried  his  remedies  in  his  saddle-bags, 
for  he  had  to  go  on  horseback  to  many  places. 
When  gigs  and  phaetons  came  in  use,  one  had  his 
made  very  narrow  so  that  no  one  could  ask  to  ride. 
Nevertheless,  a  lady  asked  if  she  could  ride  with  him 
to  her  home.  He  told  her  to  get  in,  while  he  leaped 
up  behind  and  stood  on  the  axle,  holding  the  hues 
over  the  top.  The  pay  was  small  at  first.  There  is 
on  the  town  books  a  charge  of  fifty  cents  for  a  "bleed" 
by  Dr.  J.  R.  Andrews.  The  profession  was  regarded 
as  a  benevolent  one  by  some,  who  forgot  that  the 
physician,  besides  having  obtained  his  knowledge  at 
large  cost,  had  a  family  to  support  and  must  keep 
up  with  the  literature  and  procure  the  best  apph- 
ances  of  the  art.  But,  notwithstanding,  many  of  his 
visits  were  gratuitous.  He  generously  included  the 
clergy  and  their  families  in  his  gratuitous  list. 

The  earhest  physician  in  the  town  of  whom  we 
have  any  knowledge  was  Dr.  Baker,  and  of  him  we 
know  little  more  than  that  he  resided  in  the  hamlet 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Bakertown. 

The  next  in  the  memory  of  the  old  people  was  Dr. 
A.  Gates  White.  He  lived  on  the  property  now 
owned  by  the  Brooks  family.  He  exchanged  it  for 
the  parsonage  lot  of  the  Cheesecock  Patent,  then 
owned  by  the  Presbyterian  Church,  known  later  as 
the  Van  Yaler  Farm.  He  was  regarded  as  a  physi- 
cian of  no  mean  skill,  and  was  a  man  of  such  high 
character  that  his  patients  were  willing  to  name 
their  children  after  him. 


128        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Dr.  Joseph  R.  Andrews  was  the  third  in  order  of  the 
physicians  of  the  olden  time.  He  was  born  in  the 
town  of  East  Haddam,  Middlesex  County,  Connecti- 
cut, in  1778.  He  came  to  Monroe  to  practise  soon 
after  entering  upon  his  profession,  and  married  Juha, 
daughter  of  Nehemiah  Clark  and  sister  of  Mrs. 
Stephen  Bull  and  Nathanael  and  Henry  Clark,  well- 
known  citizens  of  Monroe  and  Oxford.  The  doctor 
was  quite  tall,  and  when  we  knew  him  was  erect  in 
hearing,  benevolent  in  countenance,  with  abundance 
of  long,  silvery  hair.  He  visited  his  patients  on 
horseback,  with  his  medicines  in  a  saddle-bag,  a  true 
physician  of  the  old  school.  He  was  very  highly  es- 
teemed both  as  a  physician  and  a  citizen.  He  was 
honored  with  the  offi.ce  of  justice  of  the  peace  for 
years.  He  died  October  18,  1849,  aged  seventy-one 
years.  He  survived  his  wife  but  a  few  weeks ;  her 
death  occurring  August  30  of  the  same  year.  Their 
children  were  Fannie  (Mrs.  Elijah  Smith),  Sarah, 
Ehzabeth,  Andrew,  and  Joseph.  His  epitaph,  "De- 
parted worth,"  is  no  false  praise. 

Dr.  Ethan  B.  Carpenter  was  graduated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the  year  1833.  He  prac- 
tised for  six  or  seven  years  in  Monroe.  He  retired 
from  practice  for  five  years,  engaging  in  mercantile 
business  at  Elmira,  New  York.  He  then  returned  to 
his  native  town  and  engaged  in  farming,  becoming  an 
enthusiast  in  this  new  vocation.  He  was  honored 
with  an  election  to  the  State  legislature,  occupying 
a  seat  in  the  Assembly  during  the  winter  of  1852-53. 
He  was  a  man  of  intellect,  strong  character,  and  de- 
cided convictions.  He  was  a  warm  politician  of  the 
Jeffersonian  school,  wielding  the  power  of  a  leader 


Physic  and  Physicians.  129 

over  his  constituency.  As  a  practitioner  he  was  re- 
garded as  eminently  sagacious,  and  was  frequently 
called  in  council  long  after  he  had  retired  from  prac- 
tice. 

Dr.  John  C.  Boyd  was  the  only  son  of  Rev.  John 
and  Margaret  Gaston  Boyd.  He  was  born  in  Mon- 
ticello,  New  York,  December  2,  1819.  After  his 
school  education  in  the  village  he  was  matriculated 
at  Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Pennsylvania.  Before 
finishing  his  course,  he  entered  Jefferson  Medical 
College  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  graduated  March 
1, 1841.  He  entered  upon  practice  at  Monroe,  where 
he  pursued  his  profession  until  the  infirmities  of  age 
compelled  him  to  retire ;  and  even  when  too  feeble  to 
drive  any  distance,  his  old  patrons  would  have  no 
other,  having  such  confidence  in  his  skill.  Dr.  Boyd 
was  a  physician  of  rare  gifts  and  qualifications  for 
the  opportunities  of  his  day ;  keeping  himself  well  in- 
formed in  all  the  fresh  discoveries  and  advances  of 
his  profession.  He  was  studious,  a  constant  reader 
of  the  medical  journals,  and  a  member  of  the  Medi- 
cal Society  of  Orange  County,  in  which  he  took  great 
interest.  His  constitutional  temperament  rendered 
him  sometimes  brusque,  but  it  was  usually  toward 
those  who  put  some  real  or  fancied  slight  upon  his 
professional  etiquette.  Those  who  knew  him  best 
found  in  him  a  warm  friend,  a  cheery  visitor,  a  faith- 
ful family  physician  of  the  old  school,  painstaking, 
and  not  merely  sympathetic,  but,  when  a  case  was 
critical,  deeply  anxious,  watching  the  issue  with 
a  woman's  tenderness.  His  field  of  practice  was 
a  wide  and  hard  one,  taking  in  the  mountain  and 
mining  region,  to  cover  which  required  many  a 
weary  drive  over  snow-clad  hills  and  weary  vigils  in 
17 


130        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

many  a  humble  cabin.  He  was  the  warm  friend  of 
the  Church,  being  a  generous  contributor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which,  late  in  life,  he  be- 
came a  member.  He  placed  the  clergy  of  all  denom- 
inations on  his  free  list,  and  most  assiduous  were  his 
attentions  to  them  and  their  families.  He  died  De- 
cember 8, 1892,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Emmet  Seward  Elmer  was  the  son  of  Henry 
D.  and  Juha  Ann  Elmer,  and  was  born  at  Unionville, 
Orange  County,  New  York,  December  30,  1849, 
After  attending  the  schools  in  his  own  native  village, 
he  studied  at  Mount  Retirement  Seminary  in  New 
Jersey;  then  at  Chester  Academy,  New  York.  In 
1872  he  was  graduated  from  Ann  Arbor  Medical 
College.  In  1874-75  he  attended  medical  lectures 
in  New  York  City,  and  was  house  physician  in  the 
hospital  on  Blackwell's  Island  for  a  time.  His 
studies  all  the  while  were  kept  up  either  at  Bellevue 
or  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  About 
1877  he  settled  in  Monroe.  He  was  highly  esteemed 
by  his  fellow-practitioners  and  patients.  His  love 
for  the  microscope  and  readiness  to  explain  its  use 
greatly  interested  the  young.  October  18,  1887,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of  Morgan 
Shuitt,  Esq.,  and  removed  to  Central  Valley,  where 
he  pursued  his  practice  till  his  death,  October  26, 
1893,  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was 
brother  of  the  E-ev.  Oscar  Elmer,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  these  facts. 

Dr.  Frank  Gignoux  was  the  son  of  Claude  Gri- 
gnoux,  a  silk- weaver  of  Lyons,  France.  His  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Adele  Christina,  an  English  lady. 
The  ancestors  of  the  family  were  Huguenots,  but  his 
father  was  a  Catholic.     Several   of   his   forefathers 


Physic  and  Physicians.  131 

were  soldiers,  and  one  was  rewarded  for  bravery 
at  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  fighting  on  the  side  of 
Napoleon. 

The  doctor  was  a  nephew  of  Regis  Grignoux,  an 
artist  of  note.  His  father  emigrated  to  Staten  Island, 
New  York,  where  the  doctor  was  born.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  St.  Mary's  College,  Maryland,  where  he  was 
a  diligent  student,  judging  from  the  numerous  testi- 
monials of  scholarship  in  possession  of  the  family.  He 
was  graduated  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  under  Dr.  Willard  H.  Parker,  who  pro- 
nounced him  a  most  promising  young  surgeon, 
having  unusual  steadiness  of  nerve  for  a  surgical 
operation.  After  the  usual  hospital  practice  he 
served  as  surgeon  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the 
battle  of  Antietam  furnishing  his  first  experience  of 
the  realities  of  war.  He  married  the  only  daughter 
and  settled  on  the  homestead  of  Judge  Miles  Hughes, 
in  the  upper  village  of  Monroe.  Here  he  devoted  the 
most  of  his  time  to  farming,  but  was  always  ready 
for  consultation  with  brother  physicians,  who  were 
glad  to  avail  themselves  of  his  skill  in  surgery.  He 
died  October  1,  1883,  aged  forty-two  years. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


LAWYEES  AND   LITIGATION. 


WE  have  already  alluded  to  the  fact  that  Monroe 
in  its  early  history  was  the  scene  of  no  httle 
litigation,  for  the  reason  that  the  boundaries  of  the 
Patent  and  the  subdivisions  of  it  were  ill  defined  and 
poorly  surveyed.  Lines  overlapped  ;  monument  trees 
and  stones,  the  simple  landmarks,  were  hkely  to  be 
removed  innocently.  With  poor  fences  and  inclo- 
sures,  cattle  would  stray  and  trespass  and  so  enhance 
the  causes  of  dispute. 

It  used  to  be  said,  "  It  required  more  gumption  to 
cross  Broadway,  New  York,  than  to  be  a  country  jus- 
tice." But  men  that  had  not  merely  crossed  Broadway, 
but  battled  with  the  milkmen  of  Hester  Street  and 
followed  up  the  tricks  of  middlemen,  brought  to  the 
tribunal  of  justice  in  a  country  town  no  little  shrewd- 
ness and  common  sense.  They  were  not  chosen, 
many  at  least,  because  of  party  influence,  but  be- 
cause they  were  men  who  possessed  more  than  average 
sagacity  to  understand  some  of  the  plain  principles 
of  law,  and  also  how  to  apply  the  equities  in  its  ad- 
ministration. The  cases  that  came  before  them  were 
usually  petty  cases  of  disorder  or  theft,  some  dispute 
over  trespass  or  an  estray  in  which  often  a  little  good 
sense  coupled  with  good  advice  could  adjust  the  affair 

132 


Lawyers  and  Litigation.  133 

without  cost  to  court  or  loss  to  client.  A  litigious, 
grasping  justice  had  it  in  his  power  to  stir  up  jealousy 
between  neighbors  and  keep  the  community  in  a 
state  of  chronic  war,  or  could  pour  oil  on  troubled 
waters  and  still  the  tempest  of  strife  by  a  few  strokes 
of  magisterial  common  sense.  Monroe  was  blest 
with  some  such  justices  of  the  peace.  But  of  others 
in  the  olden  time  we  have  heard  the  complaint  that 
they  loved  to  encourage  htigation,  and  kept  neighbor 
in  feud  with  neighbor,  and  so  were  accountable  for 
much  of  the  unrest  of  the  early  times  in  Monroe. 

One  might  have  thought  from  the  lesson  taught  by 
the  sign  in  front  of  the  Lynch  tavern, —  the  badly 
dilapidated  horseman  and  his  pitiful  confession,  "I 
have  been  to  law," — that  lawsuits  would  be  very  un- 
common ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  were  very  numer- 
ous. In  early  days,  when  there  were  few  excitements 
and  amusements,  a  lawsuit,  a  horse-race  or  a  funeral 
was  a  time  of  general  concourse.  Lawsuits  were 
commonly  held  at  the  country  tavern,  and  the  tavern- 
keeper  found  it  more  of  a  harvest  than  the  counsel 
or  the  court.  Of  course  at  times  there  were  very 
serious  questions  to  be  settled,  but  as  a  general  thing 
much  of  the  litigation  was  petty  and  ought  to  have 
been  settled  by  arbitration.  We  have  heard  a  case 
referred  to  a  justice  in  which  the  parties  were  joint 
tenants  of  a  bit  of  land  on  which  they  raised  poultry 
and  were  in  dispute  as  to  the  broods  of  turkeys  and 
chickens.  Their  classification  of  the  httle  and  the 
big  httle  ones  gave  the  justice  a  harder  example  than 
he  had  with  his  own  corn  when  the  hail  beat  it  down, 
and  he  said :  "I  am  in  doubt  whether  I  had  better 
amputate  or  sphnter  up."  Another  justice  had  a 
perplexing  case  submitted  to  him  for  decision.     An 


134       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Irish  lady  had  a  dog  that  thought  himself  a  high 
commoner  and  ranged  around  among  the  gardens  of 
Dubhn  at  his  own  sweet  will.  Dimng  these  preda- 
tory excursions  he  unearthed  some  of  the  tubers  of  a 
brother  Hibernian  and  disturbed  the  order  of  his 
garden  beds.  Exasperated,  he  caught  the  trespasser 
just  as  the  milk-train  had  hauled  up  at  the  station, 
when  the  happy  thought  struck  him  to  put  the  pris- 
oner in  an  empty  car,  close  the  door  and  send  him  on 
to  parts  beyond.  When  this  became  known  to  the 
owner  of  the  dog,  she  had  him  arraigned  before  Squire 
Seaman.  Never  was  a  man  of  the  law  so  perplexed 
to  classify  the  alleged  crime.  The  Irishman  pleaded 
he  just  thought  a  ride  would  be  good  for  the  "baste," 
and  he  put  him  in  the  empty  car  to  take  a  ride  to 
Oxford.  It  was  not  maiming  nor  assault,  not  trover 
nor  trespass,  petit  larceny  nor  grand.  As  soon  as  the 
justice  could  obtain  silence, — for  both  wanted  to  plead 
at  the  same  time, — he  dismissed  the  case.  Another 
memorable  instance  along  this  line  was  the  Dorking 
case.  A  kind-hearted  neighbor  had  procured  from 
us  a  dozen  fine  Dorking  fowls,  remarkable  for  their 
pure  white  plumage  and  the  presence  of  a  fifth  toe  in 
place  of  a  spur.  One  of  those  pettiest  of  felons,  a 
chicken-thief,  came  one  night,  forced  the  lock  of  the 
hen-house  and  bagged  the  whole  lot.  Suspicion  fas- 
tened upon  a  neighbor  of  unsavory  reputation ;  search 
was  made  at  his  house,  where  white  feathers  gave 
him  away,  while  inquiry  at  Turner's  restaurant  fur- 
nished indisputable  evidence  in  the  feet  of  fowls 
five-toed  attached  to  birds  bought  recently  from  the 
suspected  party.  He  was  arraigned  and  tried  before 
the  justice.  A  five-toed  chicken  foot  was  shown  in 
court,  together  with  a  hst  of  the  latest  quotations  of 


Laivyers  and  Litigation.  135 

the  fancy  poultry-market.  Dorkings  at  that  date 
were  marked  at  from  eleven  to  twelve  dollars  per 
pair.  This  brought  the  pecuniary  claim  to  over  fifty 
dollars ;  and  as  the  breaking  of  the  lock  was  an  in- 
dictable offense,  the  court  pronounced  the  prisoner 
guilty  of  bui'glary  and  grand  larceny,  and  gave  him 
the  full  penalty  of  the  law,  namely,  six  years  in  the 
penitentiary.  Such  exemplary  damages  put  a  pause 
to  chicken  thievery  for  a  while.  It  is  matter  of 
record  that  the  tender-hearted  prosecutor  relented 
toward  the  prisoner  and  after  two  years  procured  his 
pardon.  But  the  generosity  of  his  benefactor  was 
rewarded  by  the  culprit  stealing  a  fine  colt  from 
Peter  Townsend,  Esq.,  for  which  he  was  sent  up  to 
serve  out  his  full  sentence. 

Monroe  has  had  its  roll  of  lawyers  as  well  as  phy- 
sicians. The  persons  who  conducted  cases  before  the 
justices  were  often  lay  practitioners  who,  having 
read  Blackstone  and  the  Revised  Statutes,  brought 
no  little  shrewdness  and  common  sense  to  bear  in 
elucidating  points  of  law  and  evidence.  If  a  pro- 
fessional ventured  to  enter  the  arena,  he  would  be 
handled  without  gloves,  particularly  if  it  were  a  jury 
trial.  It  is  a  common  observation  that  the  man  of  books 
is  outwitted  by  the  child  of  nature  and  experience. 

We  remember  an  instance  in  which  the  help  of  a 
neighboring  lawyer  was  sought,  and  while  the  man 
of  learning  was  making  up  the  res  gestm,  he  happened 
to  apologize  to  his  client  for  a  smoky  chimney,  and 
wish  he  would  go  up  and  investigate  the  cause. 
When  he  had  so  done  a  bill  was  handed  him  for 
counsel  fees,  whereupon  his  witty  client  said,  "  I,  too, 
have  a  charge  of  hke  amount  for  advice  about  the 
chimney." 


136        Chronicles  of  Moyiroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Thomas  L.  Carpenter,  son  of  Dr.  Ethan  B.  Car- 
penter, studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1868.  He  practised  in  New  York  and  in  the  West. 
He  is  now  connected  with  the  Postal  Telegraph  and 
Cable  Company  of  New  York  City. 

John  Charlton,  son  of  Mr.  Frank  Charlton,  of  this 
village,  was  graduated  at  the  New  York  Law  School, 
has  been  admitted  to  the  bar  and  is  employed  in  the 
law  office  of  Henry  W.  Taft,  Esq. 

Robert  M.  Grignoux  and  Claude,  his  brother,  were 
the  sons  of  Dr.  Frank  Gignoux ;  were  born  in  Mon- 
roe; graduated  at  Yale  University;  studied,  the  former 
at  Yale  and  the  latter  at  the  New  York  Law  Acad- 
emy, and  after  admission  to  the  bar  practised  for  a 
time  at  Monroe,  but  soon  removed  to  the  city,  where 
they  have  an  office  on  Nassau  and  Cedar  streets.  New 
York.     They  are  reported  to  have  a  large  practice. 

Fred.  Hulse,  son  of  Jesse  Hulse  and  Ruth  Webb, 
studied  law  at  the  New  York  Law  School,  and 
distinguished  himself  by  his  studiousness,  winning 
both  honors  and  premiums. 

Mr.  M.  N.  Kane,  although  not  a  native  of  Monroe, 
deserves  to  be  enrolled  with  its  sons,  having  taught 
in  its  school  and  married  one  of  its  fair  daughters, 
Miss  Emma  Boyd.  He  has  a  beautiful  home  in 
Warwick,  and  a  law  office  there  and  in  Monroe.  He 
has  the  honor  to  be  corporation  counsel  of  the  latter. 

To  the  legal  roster  must  be  added  the  name  of 
Lewis  R.  Conklin,  son  of  Geo.  R.  Conklin  and  Isa- 
bella Roberts.  He  studied  at  Exeter  Academy,  New 
Hampshire,  at  Yale  College,  and  at  the  New  York  Law 
School.  He  enters  his  profession  with  high  aspira- 
tions and  bright  promise  of  success. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


CHUECHES  AND   CLEEGY. 


THE  cliurclies  and  clergy  of  the  olden  time  are 
worthy  of  notice.  Provision  was  made  in  the 
Patent,  or  rather  in  the  survey  under  the  Patent,  for 
religious  worship ;  the  surveyor,  no  doubt  carrying 
out  the  instructions  of  the  patentees,  sought  out  a 
lot  for  a  parsonage,  and  rejected  one  as  too  poor,  set- 
tling upon  lot  24.  This  is  the  present  Peter  Bush  farm. 
A  log  hut  was  built  here,  beside  a  spring,  probably 
for  the  minister ;  but  the  spot  was  too  remote  from 
business  centers  for  a  church.  The  Presbyterians 
were  the  first  to  enter  the  field.  The  first  sermon 
known  to  have  been  preached  in  this  vicinity  was 
dehvered  by  Silas  Constant,  then  a  hcentiate,  under 
the  care  of  Morris  and  Orange,  known  as  an  inde- 
pendent presbytery.  He  was  stationed  at  Blooming 
drove,  and  according  to  his  own  journal  was  accus- 
tomed to  preach  at  the  Clove.  He  began  his  work 
April  20, 1783,  and  was  ordained  September  25,  1784. 
About  the  former  date  he  delivered  a  sermon  to  a 
congregation  assembled  under  an  apple-tree  standing 
in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  orchard  of  the  late 
Robert  Fowler,  Esq.  The  tree,  shattered  and  broken, 
still  remains;  but  the  generation  who  knelt  and 
prayed  there,  together  with  the  preacher,  have  long 
18  137 


138        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

since  entered  on  their  rest.  The  fruit  borne  by  this 
tree  is  of  delicious  quahty,  subacid,  flushed,  and  ten- 
der as  a  strawberry.  Being  nameless  and  unclassi- 
fied, it  has  been  christened  the  Presbyterian  apple. 
It  is  perpetuated  in  grafts  in  several  Monroe  or- 
chards. This  first  sermon  was  not  without  its  fruits, 
for  the  people  arose  immediately  to  build.  Daniel 
Miller,  mill-owner  at  Seamanville,  gave  a  lot  of  about 
two  acres  near  by,  for  church  and  burial-ground.  It 
has  been  considerably  diminished  since  by  encroach- 
ments. Timber  was  cut,  probably  on  the  spot,  for 
the  meeting-house,  as  it  was  called.  Neighbors  of  all 
denominations  were  called  out  to  the  raising.  Ne- 
hemiah  Clark  was  among  the  number.  When  the 
neighbors  stopped  for  him  on  their  way  to  the  scene 
of  operation,  he  had  just  been  made  happy  by  the 
birth  of  a  daughter.  Whether  he  went  on  to  share 
in  the  natal  joy  of  the  parish,  deponent  saith  not. 
We  only  know  that  she  was  afterwards  married  to 
Stephen  Bull,  and  was  known  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends  as  Aunt  Betsy  BuU.  The  family  Bible  con- 
tains the  record :  "  Ehzabeth  Clark  was  born  the 
5th  month,  28th  day,  1783."  This  was  the  day  the 
first  church  building  was  erected  in  the  old  Town 
of  Cheesecock.  The  building  was  not  inclosed  till 
long  afterward.  The  preacher  preached  from  the 
carpenter's  bench  and  the  people  sat  on  the  siUs. 
School  was  held  in  it  during  the  week,  and  neighbor 
Sutherland's  sheep  would  take  refuge  in  it  by  night. 
The  congregation  was  not  organized  till  May  17, 
1784,  by  Rev.  Amzi  Lewis,  of  Florida,  and  Rev.  Silas 
Constant,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Bell  of  Baker- 
town.  The  name  taken  was  "  The  First  Presbyterian 
Congregation  of  Cheesecocks."     Archibald  Cunning- 


Churches  and  Clergy.  139 

ham  and  William  Miller,  Jr.,  were  chosen  deacons. 
Afterward,  say  the  minutes,  "  the  church  agreed  to 
have  a  stated  meeting,  monthly,  for  business,  conver- 
sation, and  prayer."  The  names  of  those  composing 
the  church  were  :  Archibald  Cunningham  and  wife ; 
"William  Miller,  Jr.,  and  wife ;  John  Miller  and  wife ; 
Thos.  Davenport ;  Thos.  Davenport,  Jr.,  and  wife ; 
Samuel  Hall  and  wife ;  Jas.  Lewis  and  wife ;  Jane  B., 
wife  of  Timothy  Smith ;  Mrs.  Jonathan  Archer ;  —  a 
little  handful  of  corn  whose  fruit  has  since  begun  to 
shake  like  Lebanon.  This  religious  movement  was 
the  result  of  an  act  of  the  legislature  granting  hb- 
erty  of  worship  and  regulating  the  organization  of 
congregations,  passed  April,  1784.  There  were  de- 
vout souls  in  the  httle  flock,  who  deplored  the  low 
state  of  religion  in  the  community,  and  the  desolate 
condition  of  the  congregation.  Among  them  was 
good  Mrs.  Archer.  Falling  one  day  over  the  rude 
timbers,  the  people  rose  up  and  resolved  to  finish  the 
building.  They  put  in  windows,  door,  floor,  square 
pews,  gallery,  pulpit,  and  sounding-board.  It  was 
treated  to  two  coats  of  paint,  one  in  front,  white,  the 
other  red,  in  the  rear.  But  it  was  done  so  badly 
that  one  old  man  said  he  "  could  have  thrown  the 
paint  on  from  a  cup  and  done  better."  The  sermons 
in  those  days  were  very  long  doctrinal  discourses, 
with  an  intermission  at  noon,  when  the  people 
lunched  among  the  graves  of  the  churchyard.  The 
dominie  would  take  the  opportunity  to  answer  in- 
quiries, converse  with  the  children,  for  there  was  no 
Sunday-school,  thus  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
wants  of  his  flock.  We  do  not  know  whether  to 
wonder  more  over  the  endurance  of  the  minister,  or 
the  patience  of  the  people.     One  old  gentleman,  it 


140        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

is  said,  got  tired,  and  going  out,  said,  "  I  will  go  home 
and  get  my  dinner,  and  if  you  are  not  through  when 
I  get  back,  I  will  hear  you  through." 

It  is  related  of  one  of  the  younger  men  that  he 
would  sit  with  his  back  to  the  minister  in  the  old 
square  pew  and  take  a  nap.  One  Sunday  he  had 
driven  a  pair  of  colts  before  his  sleigh  to  the  church 
with  his  sister.  He  had  much  trouble  in  tying  them 
under  the  old  trees.  Just  as  the  minister  was  about 
closing,  his  sister  trod  on  his  toe  to  awaken  him,  and 
he,  dreaming  it  was  his  colts  stepping  on  his  foot, 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  exclaimed,  "  Whoa,  whoa!" 

The  music  of  those  days  was  of  a  primitive  order, 
like  everything  else.  The  precentor  stood  up  and 
gave  the  pitch  with  his  pitch-pipe,  and  the  choir 
joined  in.  The  tunes  were  marvellous  with  their 
fugues  and  trills,  while  the  doleful  minors,  particu- 
larly on  a  communion  occasion,  made  the  service 
seem  like  a  funeral.  One  Sunday,  when  the  choir 
had  chosen  a  lively  air,  one  old  man  said  it  sounded 
hke  "picking  up  chips."  When  an  attempt  was 
made  to  bring  in  a  cello,  a  deacon  took  it  and  threw 
it  out  on  the  grass.  When,  later  on,  a  melodeon  was 
brought  in,  a  stern  Scotchman  arose  and  bare  witness 
against  the  profanation  by  walking  out  and  slamming 
the  door.  But  we  must  not  get  the  impression  that 
there  were  no  skilled  musicians  or  sweet  singers  then. 
Deacon  Van  Valer  built  several  pipe-organs,  and  his 
daughters  could  all  play  and  sing.  They  and  Wm.Y. 
Mapes'  daughters,  with  some  others,  under  the  lead- 
ership of  the  late  Virgil  Y.  Thompson,  poured  from 
the  gallery  of  that  old  church  strains  of  music  com- 
pared with  which  "  Italian  trills  are  tame."   But  now 

"  They  are  gone,  all  gone  from  their  mountain  home, 
And  their  song  is  not  heard  o'er  the  hills  to  roam." 


Churches  and  Clergy.  141 

There  were  no  stoves  in  the  sanctuary  then.  The 
matrons  had  their  small  foot- stoves,  which  they  filled, 
with  coals  and  took  with  them.  They  were  intended 
for  the  feet,  but  were  sometimes  held  in  the  lap.  The 
rest  of  the  congregation  must  be  kept  warm  by  the  ser- 
mon. The  sanctuary  was  also  without  hghts.  When 
there  was  an  evening  service,  tallow  candles  were 
taken  and  snuffed, — if  there  were  no  snuffers  present, 
with  the  fingers,  a  feat  some  prided  themselves  upon, 
effecting  it  without  burning  the  hand.  What  dis- 
comforts, the  young  will  say :  to  walk  half  a  mile, 
with  no  overshoes,  through  slush  and  zero  weather, 
to  sit  in  a  cold  church  and  listen  to  an  hour's  dis- 
course on  some  abstruse  point  of  theology  or  exege- 
sis. But  there  was  many  a  weary  soul  comforted  in 
that  old  house  of  Grod,  and  not  a  few  of  the  young 
as  well  as  the  old  brought  into  the  fold  of  God.  One 
aged  mother  was  received  by  baptism  at  her  home 
when  eighty  years  of  age,  and  five  generations  were 
present.  Seed  was  sown  early  and  late,  and  none  can 
tell  "  which  shall  prosper,  whether  this  or  that." 

This  old  structure  stood  unaltered  till  about  1840, 
when  a  movement  was  started  to  remove  to  the  vil- 
lage, then  feeling  the  boom  of  the  coming  railway. 
One  party  strongly  advocated  such  a  move.  Others, 
interested  in  building  up  Seamanville,  desired  it 
should  remain  where  it  was,  claiming  all  that  was 
needed  was  a  renovation.  These  latter  prevailed. 
The  square  seats  were  taken  out,  the  sounding-board 
removed,  the  pulpit  remodelled,  and  a  stove  put  in. 
Thus  it  remained  for  another  decade.  Meanwhile  the 
other  party  went  out  and  joined  with  the  Methodists 
in  organizing  the  Methodist  Church  of  Monroe. 

The  Presbyterian  congregation  was  not  incorpo- 
rated until  April  13,  1804,  when  the  Court  of  Com- 


142       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

mon  Pleas  granted  application  for  the  same.  Samuel 
Gregory,  Gilbert  King,  Samuel  Webb,  George  R. 
Fowler,  James  Smith  and  Isaac  Bull  were  the  first 
trustees.  The  court  also  granted  permission  to  lease 
to  A.  Gates  White,  as  long  as  wood  grows  and  water 
flows,  parsonage  lot  No.  24  in  the  Cheesecock  Patent, 
containing  150  acres,  for  the  consideration  of  one 
tenth  part  of  a  cent  if  demanded.  Then  the  trustees 
purchased  for  a  suitable  residence  for  their  pastor. 
Rev.  Howell  Powell,  58  acres  of  land  from  A.  Gates 
White,  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  stage  road  in 
the  village,  said  White  to  pay  the  sum  of  £200, 
without  interest,  for  one  year;  afterwards  interest 
annually,  till  all  was  paid.  Thus  the  farm  on  the 
road  to  Turners  was  exchanged  for  the  John  Brooks 
place,  and  here  the  early  pastors  lived.  This  was 
afterwards  exchanged  for  a  tract  of  35  acres  nearer  the 
church.  If  the  former  was  a  stone  quarry,  the  latter 
was  mostly  a  narrow  strip  between  two  farms  and 
stretching  across  the  summit  of  Bald  Hill.  It  had 
the  advantage  of  elevation,  from  which  the  pastor 
could  literally  oversee  his  flock ;  but  by  reason  of 
situation  it  was  anything  but  a  fruitful  hill.  The 
dominie  was  informed  by  one  of  his  parishioners 
during  a  haying  froHc  that  "  he  saw  the  last  grass- 
hopper departing  over  the  hill."  After  eighteen  years 
of  happy  residence  there,  this  was  sold  and  the  present 
glebe  was  bought,  and  on  it  was  erected  the  com- 
modious manse. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  the  incorporation 
was  once  permitted  to  lapse,  through  default  of  elec- 
tion of  trustees.  Application  was  made  to  Commis- 
sioner Francis  Letts  for  the  renewal  of  the  charter, 
which  was  granted  January  23,  1822. 


Churches  and  Clergy.  143 

The  salary  for  the  first  seventy  years  amounted  to 
about  300  dollars  per  annum  in  cash,  the  use  of  parson- 
age and  glebe,  together  with  an  annual  donation  visit. 

This  last  was  a  pecuhar  institution,  but  adopted 
then  by  most  feeble  rural  congregations.  On  a  cer- 
tain eve,  the  community  were  invited  to  the  manse 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  minister  and  his  family. 
They  would  come,  young  and  old,  laden  with  gifts, 
from  a  quarter  of  beef,  or  a  load  of  wood,  to  a  pair  of 
slippers  for  the  minister,  or  a  tidy  for  his  wife.  A 
sumptuous  table  was  spread  by  the  hands  of  the 
ladies,  and  all  sat  down  to  eat.  We  have  read  of  the 
astonishment  of  some  ministers  to  find  that  the  men 
ate  up  all  the  women  brought,  and  the  mixed  multi- 
tude turned  his  house  into  bedlam,  rummaged  the 
bureaus,  tumbled  the  beds  and  made  the  raven  over 
the  study  door  utter  his  melancholy  "  Nevermore." 

We  never  saw  it  thus  in  Monroe.  The  refinement 
of  its  people  made  such  a  scene  impossible.  Those 
who  have  given  the  world  the  laughable  pictures 
from  which  the  general  impression  has  been  formed 
of  the  rudeness  of  the  occasions  must  have  lived 
among  an  uncultured  people.  With  us  the  gifts  were 
generous ;  leaving  larder,  bin,  barn  and  woodpile  full. 

While  the  large  proportion  of  the  gifts  were  in 
hard  cash,  it  was  never  reckoned  as  an  equivalent  of 
salary.  Instead  of  rudeness,  we  experienced  the  most 
tender  consideration  and  loving  ministries,  not  merely 
in  seasons  of  joy,  but  much  more  of  sorrow.  When 
the  death  angel  entered  the  parsonage,  kindher  hands 
never  came  to  minister  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  brav- 
ing even  the  deadly  breath  of  contagion.  The  record 
of  such  deeds  is  written  in  the  book  of  God's  re- 
membrance. 


144       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

A  Christian  lady,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Witherbee,  now 
gone  to  her  rest,  related  the  following  incident : 
When  I  was  a  child  I  wanted  to  attend  a  donation 
visit  at  the  manse.  Her  father,  mother,  and  elder 
sister  were  going.  "Why  cannot  I  go?"  she  said. 
"  Because  every  one  carries  a  gift,"  said  her  mother, 
"  and  yon  have  none  prepared."  Whereupon  she  at 
once  sat  down  and  secretly  knit  a  pair  of  stockings 
for  the  pastor's  daughter.  Then,  after  the  family 
had  driven  to  the  scene  of  festivity,  she  came  on 
horseback,  bringing  her  unique  gift,  doubly  precious 
because  the  free-will  offering  of  her  own  childish 
hands.  Truly  it  could  be  said,  "  She  hath  done  what 
she  could." 

An  eye  that  can  sweep  the  horizon  of  the  past 
must  discern  a  marked  progress  in  the  intellectual, 
moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  society.  We  have 
seen  how  much  of  intemperance  and  immorahty  fol- 
lowed the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Then,  too,  the 
atheism  of  the  French  Revolution  had  scattered  its 
seeds  everywhere.  The  Druid  Society  of  Newburg, 
which  so  boldly  profaned  the  most  sacred  things,  ex- 
erted a  baleful  influence  upon  the  growing  Christian 
institutions.  It  were  not  strange  if  these  winged 
seeds  found  lodgment  in  the  fertile  soil  of  Monroe. 
This  will  account  for  the  slow  progress  of  the  church 
in  early  times.  The  ministers  of  that  day  fomid  that 
while  they  slept  "  the  enemy  sowed  tares."  But  they 
were  men  of  faith,  good  deeds  and  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Their  very  difficulties  drew  out  the  very 
best  that  was  in  them.  So  far  as  we  have  studied 
them,  they  were  men  of  blameless  lives,  judged,  as 
they  must  be,  by  their  time.  Social  customs  were 
tolerated  then  that  are  tabooed  now  by  all   good 


Churches  and  Clergy.  145 

people.  Judged  by  the  moral  standards  of  the  time, 
they  were  men  of  lofty  purpose  and  high  integrity, 
far-reaching  authority  and  influence. 

Two  sermons  still  extant  demonstrate  that  one  at 
least,  the  Rev.  Simeon  Jones,  who  preached  more 
than  a  century  ago,  was  a  man  of  clear  intellect,  logi- 
cal power  and  large  acquaintance  with  Holy  Scripture. 

These  men  understood  their  commission  to  be  to 
preach  the  Word.  The  acute  speculations  of  to-day 
had  not  eaten  out  their  faith.  They  bravely  asked, 
"What  saith  the  Scripture?"  And  so  left  not  the 
flock  to  wander  in  the  mazes  of  doubt,  but  pointed  to 
heaven  and  led  the  way.  Thus  grew  up  around 
them  many  a  noble  character.  Listen  to  one. 
When  some  one  rudely  asked,  "  Granny,  what  busi- 
ness have  you  and  I  to  be  stajdng  here  to  cough  and 
suffer?"  she  meekly  replied,  " Because  it  is  the  will 
of  my  Heavenly  Father."  We  congratulated  one 
aged  mother  upon  the  bestowment  of  her  name  on  a 
grandchild,  and  asked  if  she  were  not  proud  of  it.  She 
said,  "  I  have  nothing  to  be  proud  of,  but  much  to  be 
thankful  for."  A  venerable  man  dechned  the  offer 
of  certain  rehgious  books,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  original,  but  all  plagiarized  from  one  book 
which  he  already  possessed, — his  Bible. 

Thus  while  all  the  former  ministers  are  gone  to  their 
rest,  their  works  follow  them.  They  need  no  letters  of 
commendation.  They  could  say,  "Ye  are  our  epistle." 

The  following  is  the  full  list  of  ministers  who  have 
served  the  church,  namely : 

The  Reverend  Silas  Constant,  1783-. 

"  Simeon  R.  Jones,  served  one  year. 

"  David  Baldwin,  served  four  years. 

19 


146        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

The  Reverend  Howell  Powell,  1804-1806. 

PoRTEE,  served  18  months. 

James  H.  Thomas,  1814-1816. 
John  White,  1823-1824. 
HosEA  Ball,  1824-1826. 
John  Boyd,  1826-1834. 
John  Jay  Thompson,  1836-1846. 
Daniel  N.  Feeeland,  1847-1881. 
Thomas  Thomas,  1882-. 

The  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  October, 
1819. 

The  church  in  the  village  was  dedicated  February 
15,  1853.  Sermon  preached  by  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Snod- 
grass,  D.D.,  from  Ecc.  v  :  1, — "  Keep  thy  foot  when 
thou  goest  to  the  house  of  God." 

Rev.  Hosea  Ball  was  born  May  11, 1792 ;  married 
Sarah  Helms  of  Southfield,  New  York,  September  12, 
1817 ;  studied  theology  with  the  Rev.  Silas  Con- 
stant ;  came  to  Monroe  in  1824  and  supplied  the 
Presbyterian  church  for  two  years,  during  which 
there  was  no  little  religious  interest  under  his  min- 
istry. He  organized  the  Sabbath-school  while  min- 
istering here.  He  preached  at  the  old  chui'ch  at 
Seamanville,  and  during  his  residence  in  Monroe 
taught  school  at  Buttermilk  Falls  five  days  of  the 
week.  He  was  settled  also  at  Greenburg  and 
Dobbs  Ferry,  in  Westchester  County.  The  latter 
portion  of  his  life  was  spent  on  his  estate  near  South- 
field,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising, 
but  was  often  called  upon  to  preach  and  solemnize 
marriages  among  the  peasantry,  by  whom  he  was 
highly  respected.  His  sermons  and  other  papers 
full  of  interest  are  in  possession  of  his  daughters. 


Churches  and  Clergy.  147 

residing  in  the  village  of  Monroe,  and  show  him  to 
have  been  a  man  of  earnestness  in  his  profession  and 
possessed  of  no  mean  talent.  He  died  January  1, 
1876. 

Rev.  John  Boyd  was  born  December  14,  1762 ; 
died  at  Monroe,  1842.  He  was  married  to  Margaret 
Gaston,  April  10, 1806,  by  William  Boyd,  his  brother. 
He  was  graduated  at  Dickinson  College,  Carhsle, 
Pennsylvania,  May  7,  1788 ;  licensed  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  December  21, 1791,  at  Chamberstown ;  was  or- 
dained and  installed,  April,  1794,  at  Carlisle ;  preached 
at  Tuscarora  and  Falling  Water,  Virginia,  from  Octo- 
ber, 1794,  to  1801,  for  £100  Pennsylvania  currency  for 
two  thirds  of  his  time ;  preached  as  supply  for  two 
years;  called  to  Newton  and  Hardwick,  Sussex 
County,  New  Jersey,  April  13,  1803,  for  the  sum  of 
$250  at  each  place ;  resigned  1811.  He  preached  at 
different  places,  mostly  in  New  Jersey,  until  the  year 
1820,  when  he  went  to  Monticello,  where  he  preached 
until  1826,  when  he  came  to  Monroe.  He  served 
this  church  as  pastor  until  1834,  when  he  retired  and 
dwelt  among  his  congregation,  honored  and  beloved 
until  the  day  of  his  death.  His  children  were  Mary, 
unmarried ;  Elizabeth,  married  to  Mr.  Frank  Wood- 
hull;  Margaret,  married  to  Mr.  Thompson  of  Ha- 
gerstown,  Virginia;  Matilda;  and  John  Cumming,  who 
was  a  twin.  He  became  an  eminent  physician.  The 
daughters  are  remembered  with  their  mother,  Mrs. 
Margaret  Boyd,  as  ladies  of  unusual  charms  of  person 
and  manner.  The  family  lived  at  the  manse  on  the 
site  of  the  Brooks  mansion  till  Mr.  Boyd  built  the 
late  homestead  in  1823,  which  was  occupied  until 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Boyd  in  1896. 

Rev.  John  Jay  Thompson  was  born  in   Goshen, 


148        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

New  York,  and  studied  theology  with  the  Rev.  Ezra 
Fisk,  D.D.  He  married  Sarah,  sister  of  Nathanael 
"Webb,  Esq.,  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  a 
well-known  teacher  and  editor.  The  first  settlement 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  was  at  Centreville,  Grreene 
County,  New  York,  whence  he  removed  to  Monroe  in 
1836.  He  served  the  church  with  great  devotion 
and  fidelity  until  1846.  Dui'ing  a  portion  of  the 
time  he  taught  in  the  public  school,  where  he  won 
the  affection  of  the  pupils  by  his  gentleness  and 
scholarship.  The  esteem  in  which  he  is  still  held 
illustrates  the  poet's  line,  "  The  law  of  love  outlasts 
the  rusted  rod."  Removing  from  Monroe,  he  taught 
at  Bloomingburg,  New  York,  several  years,  and  died 
June  12,  1849.  His  funeral  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  E.  D.  O.  Prime,  from  the  text,  "  The 
righteous  perisheth,  and  no  man  layeth  it  to  heart," — 
Isa.  Ivii :  1.  It  was  a  beautiful  tribute  to  a  faithful 
servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Mrs.  Thompson 
died  March  10, 1888.  She  spent  most  of  the  time  in 
Monroe,  where  she  was  a  true  "  mother  in  Israel,"  de- 
voted to  every  good  work.  Their  children  were : 
Mary,  wife  of  C.  B.  Knight ;  Sarah,  wife  of  Mr.  Stick- 
ney ;  Grace,  wife  of  David  Felter ;  Julia  Carohne, 
editor  of  "Woman's  Work  for  Women,"  who  died  in 
Philadelphia;  J.  Howard,  who  died  at  Port  Byron, 
New  York;  Benjamin  W.,  whose  biography  appears 
elsewhere,  and  Margaret  Boyd,  wife  of  Rev.  C.  B. 
Newton,  of  Lahore,  India. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Niles  Freeland  was  born  in  Phila- 
delphia, May  15, 1825.  His  ancestry  on  his  mother's 
side  were  early  identified  with  the  history  of  that  city 
and  of  the  American  colonies.  His  great-grandfa- 
ther was  with  Washington  during  the  darkest  hours 


Churches  and  Clergy.  149 

of  the  Revolution,  at  Valley  Forge  and  the  crossing 
of  the  Delaware,  and  his  brother  was  editor  of  "  Niles' 
Register,"  the  journal  published  at  Baltimore  that 
rendered  notable  service  in  supporting  the  cause 
of  freedom.  Another  grandfather,  Daniel  Goodman, 
was  one  of  the  founders  and  an  officer  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  days  of  Whitefield,  from 
whose  ministry  it  sprung. 

He  attended  the  preparatory  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  under  Rev.  S.  W.  Crawford,  D.D.,  and 
was  specially  prepared  for  college  by  the  late  Henry 
D.  Grregory,  afterwards  Vice-President  of  Grirard  Col- 
lege. He  entered  the  university  in  1840,  and  gradu- 
ated in  1844.  He  entered  Princeton  Theological  Sem- 
inary in  the  same  year  and  graduated  in  1847.  He  was 
called  to  the  Monroe  Presbyterian  Chui'ch  in  the  fall, 
and  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  on  March  9, 
1848,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson. 

The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  H.  Milne,  of 
Milf ord,  Pennsylvania.  The  charge  to  the  pastor  was 
given  by  the  Rev.  John  Newton  Boyd ;  the  charge  to 
the  people  by  the  Rev.  Robert  McCartee,  D.  D.,  of 
Groshen,  New  York. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1848,  he  was  married  by 
the  Rev.  C.  C.  Cuyler,  D.  D.,  to  Mary  E.,  the  second 
daughter  of  Robert  Burwell,  of  Philadelphia. 

He  served  this  church  for  thirty-four  years,  being 
called  from  it  to  a  pastorate  at  Pelham  Manor,  a  new 
enterprise  on  the  Sound.  He  served  this  church  as 
pastor  for  eight  years,  when,  his  health  failing,  he  re- 
signed and  entered  on  a  service  as  stated  supply  to 
the  churches  of  Hawthorne  and  Waldo  in  Florida. 
After  six  years  in  this  field,  his  sight  failing,  he  re- 
turned North,  resigned  active  ministerial  work  and 


150        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

entered  private  life,  living  among  Ws  children,  in  whose 
Christian  homes  he  enjoys  a  serene  ojd  age. 

Rev.  Thomas  Thomas,  the  twelfth  minister  and 
third  pastor,  was  horn  at  Averuqueron,  Wales.  After 
the  usual  common-school  education,  he  was  prepared 
for  college  at  Whitestown,  near  Utica,  New  York. 

He  was  matriculated  at  Union  College,  Ohio,  and 
graduated  in  1877.  He  entered  Alleghany  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  taking  a  one  year's  course,  completing 
his  studies  at  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York, 
taking  a  two  years'  course.  He  received  the  degree 
of  A.  M.  from  the  New  York  University.  He  was 
ordained  and  installed  at  Wilkesharre,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  preached  seven  years.  He  was  called  to 
Monroe  in  1882,  where  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  after  sixteen  years  of  effi- 
cient service  remains  intrenched  in  the  love  and  loyalty 
of  his  people.  He  married  Miss  Lillie  Taylor,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Taylor,  an  elder  of  this  church. 

A  bright  cluster  of  olive  plants  gather  about  their 
table,  and  are  full  of  promise  for  the  future. 

The  new  Presbyterian  church  was  built  in  the  vil- 
lage, and  the  old  white  meeting-house,  at  Seaman ville, 
was  abandoned  to  the  moles  and  the  bats.  The  latter 
had  hterally  taken  possession  of  the  attic.  The  occa- 
sional appearance  of  one  in  the  room  below  was  a  sign 
for  general  inattention  to  the  sermon,  particularly  on 
the  part  of  the  small  boy.  The  evil  one  seems  to  pre- 
fer that  form  to  that  of  an  angel  of  light.  A  swarm  of 
bees  usurped  part  of  their  domicile  one  Sunday.  They 
had  ahghted  just  under  the  eaves  of  the  rear  of  the 
church  the  day  before.  During  the  service  they  sent 
their  warriors  into  the  auditorium  to  investigate  the 
situation.     They  did  not  ahght  on  the  hps  of  the  min- 


Churches  and  Clergy,  151 

ister,  but  among  his  locks,  warning  him  to  unwonted 
earnestness,  too.  Even  the  hum  of  the  busy  workers 
failed  to  produce  drowsiness  with  the  habitual  sleeper. 
The  dominie  thought  to  balance  the  account  with  the 
bees  next  day,  but  found  that  a  neighbor,  Austin 
Miller,  had  scratched  his  name  on  the  red  siding, 
which,  according  to  the  bee-hunter's  code,  gave  him 
claim  to  honey  and  swarm.  So  transient  are  the  sweets 
as  well  as  the  glory  of  the  world ! 

Such  of  the  material  of  the  old  building  as  was 
available  was  used  in  fitting  up  the  basement  of  the 
new.  The  frame  was  sold  to  Nicholas  Cock  and  Sons 
and  was  moved  to  Cornwall,  for  a  wagon-maker's  shop. 
The  piece  of  ground  left  was  literally  God's  acre. 
For  seventy  years  it  had  been  a  cemetery. 

"  Beneath  those  rugged  elms,  that  yew-tree  shade, 

Where  heaves  the  turf  in  many  a  mouldering  heap, 
Each  in  his  narrow  cell  forever  laid, 
The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep." 

Mingling  with  them  are  the  ashes  of  one  of  the  pas- 
tors, of  two  pastors'  wives,  and  the  children  of  four. 

For  years  this  beautiful  piece  of  ground  was  un- 
fenced,  trespassed  upon  by  wandering  cattle  and 
made  a  potter's  field  for  paupers.  One  of  the  pastors, 
shocked  at  such  a  condition  of  things,  circulated  a 
paper  and  obtained  subscriptions  for  the  building  of 
a  fence.  The  stone  wall  was  built  by  the  late  Henry 
Hunter.  The  granite  pillars  were  procured  from  the 
Pierson  Granite  Works  at  Ramapo.  Iron  gates  were 
purchased  and  put  in  place  to  guard  the  sanctity  of 
the  ground.  Intrusted  with  such  an  heirloom,  it  be- 
comes the  sacred  duty  of  the  congregation  to  guard 
and  keep  it  in  neatness  and  order,  in  memory  of  those 
"  who  are  not  dead,  only  gone  before." 


152       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

A  bell  was  presented  by  Mr.  Lewis  H.  Roe,  of  Port 
Henry,  New  York,  in  memory  of  Ms  father,  Genest 
M.  Roe,  M.  D.,  wlio  for  many  years  was  ruling  elder 
in  that  church.  The  bell  weighed  one  thousand 
pounds,  and  cost  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The 
inscription  on  the  bell  is  "Blessed  is  the  people  that 
know  the  joyful  sounds."  It  was  hung  in  the  belfry 
May,  1873.  A  handsome  communion  service  was  pre- 
sented by  a  summer  visitor  and  worshiper,  Mr.  James 
K.  Dunham,  who  was  also  an  officer  of  the  Broadway 
Tabernacle  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Tay- 
lor, D.D.  The  pulpit  Bible  was  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Han- 
nah N.  Freeland,  of  Philadelphia,  mother  of  the  pas- 
tor of  that  name.  The  following  have  served  in  the 
eldership  of  this  church  : 

Aechibald  Cunningham,  John  Taylor, 

Samuel  Gregory,  J.  Warren  Helme, 

Andrew  Van  Yaler,  S.  C.  Yan  Yliet,  Jr., 

Genest  M.  Roe,  M.D.,  Joseph  Youngs, 

David  Smith,  George  R.  Conklin, 

John  K.  Roe,  Eugene  McGarrah. 

Messrs.  Young,  Conklin  and  McGarrah  are  the 
present  board. 

The  Methodists  very  early  held  rehgious  services  in 
the  town.  They  worshipped  in  the  old  mill  of  Nich- 
olas Knight,  in  a  room  where  stood  an  ancient  spin- 
ning-wheel, says  my  informant.  Its  thread  and 
spindle  were  not  inapt  reminders  of  the  brittle  thread 
of  hfe  and  destiny.  Sometimes  they  met  on  Forshee 
Hill.  They  did  not  erect  a  church  until  1840.  It  was 
dedicated  in  the  winter  of  1841. 

The  public  mind  at  that  time,  as  well  as  business, 
awoke  after  a  long  depression  into  new  life.     The 


Churches  and  Clergy.  153 

Erie  Railway  was  organized  a  short  time  before,  and 
the  track  was  laid  to  Monroe.  This  changed  its  site 
from  the  upper  to  that  of  the  present  village.  The 
Methodists  were  quick  to  discern  the  advantage  of 
their  present  location. 

It  started  from  the  first  with  a  numerous  and  ear- 
nest membership.  The  blessing  of  the  Spirit  of  Grod 
has  made  the  church  largely  instrumental  in  pro- 
moting the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  place,  and  has 
contributed  many  a  lively  stone  to  the  temple 
not  made  with  hands.  It  has  given  also  several 
of  its  sons  to  the  ministry,  as  Greorge  Ezray  and 
Seely  Tuthill;  while  several  of  its  clergy,  as  Rev. 
Messrs.  Hoyt  and  Hearn,  have  bequeathed  their 
work  to  their  sons,  well  remembered  here.  That 
church  also  has  had  many  worthy  names  on  its  roll, 
such  as  David  Bull  and  Franklin  Bull,  Walter  Roberts, 
Nathan  Strong,  Elisha  Stevens,  Samuel  Cooley,  and 
Peter  Ball.  The  church  edifice,  very  plain  at  first, 
was  remodelled  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  D. 
McCartney,  struck  with  lightning  imder  that  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Hearn,  and  is  now  a  model  of  beauty  and  conve- 
nience. The  congregation  owns  a  fine  manse  in  the 
village. 

When  first  organized,  Monroe  was  included  in  a 
circuit  embracing  Vail's  G-ate  and  other  points.  The 
clergy  filled  a  number  of  appointments  and  some- 
times made  their  residence  elsewhere.  Usually  there 
were  two  incumbents  to  supply  the  circuit. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  some  of  the  older 
and  best-remembered  ministers :  Revs.  T.  F.  R. 
Mercein,  N.  Humphreys,  J.  M.  Hawkhurst,  R.  A. 
Shurter,  J.  Millard,  D.B.  Tm-ner,  W.  Blake,  E.Dennis- 
ton,  M.  M.  Curtis,  U.  Messeter,  S.  H.  Saxe,  D.  D.  Gil- 
20 


154        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

lespie,  J.  W.  B.  Wood,  R.  M.  Roberts,  D.  McCartney, 
Z.  N.  Lewis,  George  Hearn.  Some  of  the  more  re- 
cent appointments  are  Revs.  J.  B.  Hoyt,  E.  Heroy, 
and  Gr.  W.  Downs. 

The  Society  of  Friends  also  early  held  religious 
service  in  the  vicinity,  first  at  the  house  of  James 
Cromwell,  for  about  ten  years.  The  Blooming  Grove 
house  was  built  1815,  that  in  the  Clove  about  1780, 
rebuilt  1820.  The  separation  took  place  in  1828 
when  the  orthodox  severed  from  the  other  portion 
and  built  a  house  for  themselves.  While  their  num- 
bers have  diminished  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mon- 
roe, their  young  people  having  entered  other  com- 
munions, they  still  retain  their  strength  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  town,  where  their  simple  virtues  and 
piety  exert  a  beneficent  influence  on  society. 

The  Episcopal  congregation  in  Monroe  at  first 
worshipped  in  the  Presbyterian,  and  then  in  the 
Methodist  Church,  building  a  house  of  worship  in 
1869,  when  it  was  dedicated  by  the  Right  Rev. 
Henry  Potter,  D.D.,  and  placed  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  Chas.  Babcock,  rector  at  Greenwood  and  after- 
terwards  Professor  of  Architecture  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Henry  M. 
Dows,  who  served  the  church  for  many  years,  and 
left  a  record  for  scholarship,  earnestness,  and  piety. 
Its  corporate  name  is  Grace  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  Monroe.  Its  present  rector  is  the  Rev.  A. 
H.  Ormsbee.  The  congregation  from  small  begin- 
nings is  pushing  its  way  among  older  churches,  show- 
ing notable  zeal  and  desii'e  to  build  up  society  in  the 
knowledge  and  life  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

The  Roman  Catholics  have  long  held  services  in 
the  town,  but  for  many  years  in  private  houses  or 


Churches  and  Clergy.  155 

halls.  At  length  they  purchased  the  house  built  by 
John  Jenkins  in  the  village.  This  they  fitted 
up  as  a  chapel.  They  gave  it  the  name  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary's.  In  1896  this  was  removed 
and  a  beautiful  house  of  worship  was  built  and  con- 
secrated by  Archbishop  Corrigan,  with  the  name  of 
the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

The  church  is  an  ornament  to  the  village,  and 
much  is  hoped  from  it  in  training  those  of  that  de- 
nomination in  the  ways  of  truth  and  uprightness. 

Its  priesthood  have  been  Fathers  Byrnes  and 
Hughes.  Fathers  Hannigan  and  Ward  officiate  at 
present. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THE   CAUSE   OF   TEMPEEANCE. 


THE  temperance  cause  has  had  earnest  champions 
in  Monroe.  We  have  stated  that  John  Brooks 
dehvered  a  temperance  lecture  in  Blooming  Grove 
when  he  was  a  young  man,  long  before  the  Washing- 
tonians  or  any  of  the  modern  reforms  were  thought 
of.  The  venerable  man  said  some  resented  it,  be- 
cause they  regarded  it  as  personal.  There  were 
many  stills  at  that  time  in  that  town.  But  Monroe 
was  not  without  at  least  one,  on  the  Still  Brook,  kept 
by  a  Mr.  Bell.  It  was  not  regarded  as  inconsistent  for 
a  Deacon  Griles  to  have  a  distillery,  or  a  minister  of 
the  Grospel  to  accept  a  glass  of  wine  from  the  side- 
board of  a  parishioner.  We  have  heard  of  one  divine 
who  would  repair  to  the  house  of  a  good  deacon  after 
morning  service  and  take  what  was  called  "  a  wee  bit " 
to  brace  Mm  up  for  the  second,  or  afternoon,  service ; 
and  of  another  who  was  accustomed  to  send  away 
his  demijohn  for  what  was  supposed  to  be  molasses. 
When  the  messenger  brought  it  home  on  a  stormy 
evening,  he  was  asked  if  he  would  not  step  in  and  have 
something  to  keep  out  the  cold.  He  said,  "  No,  I  thank 
you ;  I  took  a  little  of  the  molasses  out  of  the  jug." 
It  was  not  unusual  to  have  such  spii'itual  refresh- 
ment at  funerals  and  even  ordinations.     Bills  are  ex- 

156 


TJie  Cause  of  Temperance.  157 

tant  —  although,  happily,  not  in  the  archives  of  a 
Monroe  church  —  which  contain,  among  the  items  of 
expense  for  such  an  occasion,  a  gallon  of  old  Jamaica 
spirits.  What  wonder  there  should  be  scenes  un- 
worthy such  occasions,  and  cases  of  intemperance 
calhng  for  the  censure  of  the  church !  With  such 
examples  in  high  places,  it  were  not  strange  if  the 
youth  grew  up  to  regard  such  indulgence  as  not 
merely  pleasant,  but  manly.  One  of  the  young  men 
said  he  was  startled,  on  his  way  from  college,  to  hear 
the  name  of  his  own  father  quoted  in  the  bar-room 
in  justification  of  social  drinking.  But  that  was  a 
feature  of  the  time.  Conscience  had  not  awakened 
to  the  enormity  of  the  evil.  And  yet  even  then 
there  were  those  who,  like  the  sons  of  Rechab, 
frowned  upon  it,  and  did  what  they  could  to  stay  the 
evil. 

For  the  last  sixty  years  the  pastors  in  the  town 
have  been  earnest  advocates  of  temperance.  It  was 
always  advocated  on  a  Scripture  basis  that  "  Wine  is 
a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  raging,  at  last  it  stingeth 
like  a  serpent,  and  bitethlike  an  adder."  On  one  oc- 
casion Rev.  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  then  Methodist  Episcopal 
pastor  at  Chester,  New  York,  afterwards  bishop,  de- 
livered a  memorable  sermon  in  the  Presbyterian 
church,  from  the  text,  "  Every  tree  that  the  Lord 
hath  not  planted  shall  be  plucked  up,"  in  which  he 
compared  the  tree  of  intemperance  to  the  deadly 
upas,  poisonous  in  root,  branch,  blossom,  and  fruit. 

A  reform  club  was  organized  about  twenty  years 
since  that  flourished  for  a  time,  winning  many  from 
the  saloons ;  and  in  a  pleasant  reading-room,  fur- 
nished with  books  and  games,  and  having  discussions 
every  week,  much  good  was  done.     But  it  was  al- 


158        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

lowed  to  languish  and  at  length  come  to  an  end. 
Yet  good  came  out  of  it,  and  some  who  were  reformed 
stood  firm. 

The  ladies  of  Monroe  have  always  felt  a  deep  inter- 
est in  the  temperance  cause,  and  well  they  may,  for 
it  is  usually  woman  that  feels  the  heaviest  weight 
of  the  curse,  when  she  sees  the  strong  arm  of  hus- 
band palsied,  or  the  boy  for  whom  she  has  prayed 
caught  in  the  irresistible  threads  of  the  octopus 
of  drink.  They  have  encouraged  speakers  and 
attended  meetings  and  bidden  every  effort  to  bar 
the  current  that  has  sometimes  threatened  to 
destroy  all  that  is  fair  and  promising.  They  have 
now  an  organization  of  their  own,  a  branch  of 
that  society  instituted  by  the  late  Miss  Frances  E. 
Willard,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  it  is  hoped  it  may  save 
many  a  victim  and  throw  up  such  a  barrier  against 
the  saloon  as  shall  be  mightier  than  a  wall  of  granite. 
A  sanitarium  for  the  application  of  the  "gold  cure" 
has  been  planted  just  beyond  our  border;  while  we 
welcome  it  as  a  humanitarian  institution,  it  is  sad 
there  should  be  such  a  need.  The  true  gold  cure  is 
the  old  jnotto,^^ Ohsta principiis^^ ("Resist  beginnings"), 
and  the  still  higher  one,  "  Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle 
not." 

An  incident  of  the  reform  club  is  worth  relating. 
Some  of  the  leading  laity  and  older  clergy  had  been 
very  active,  when  one  of  the  former  playfully  said : 
"  We  have  heard  from  the  old  stagers,  now  let  the 
young  colts  have  a  chance,"  meaning  the  young  men. 

This  brought  out  the  happy  rejoinder  from  the 
Rev.  George  Hearn:  "Yes,  put  up  the  old  horses 
that  have  pulled  you  over  the  hard,  dusty  road,  and 
bring  out  the  young  team  and  show  up  their  points. 


The  Cause  of  Temperance.  159 

Hitch  them  up,  while  the  passengers  rest  awhile.  The 
driver  takes  the  reins,  the  bugle  sounds.  The  colts 
prance  and  curve  their  necks  and  switch  their  long 
tails,  but  the  coach  does  not  move.  The  driver 
uses  the  whip,  the  hostlers  take  them  by  the  bit,  but 
they  refuse  to  move  in  the  direction  wanted.  '  Take 
them  out,'  says  the  driver.  '  Give  me  the  old  stagers 
for  work.'  When  they  are  hitched  and  the  signal  is 
given,  off  goes  the  stage  amid  the  cheers  of  all  inside 
or  out."  Quite  true  of  other  enterprises  that  advance 
only  when  the  willing  take  hold. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


HUNTING   AND   FISHING. 


EVERY  nation  and  people  have  their  recreations. 
Such  are  characteristic  of  the  time  and  locahty. 
Hunting  and  fishing  are  among  the  most  primitive, 
becoming  ahnost  part  of  the  necessary  toil.  The 
early  settler  feels  a  twofold  pressure  :  that  of  clearing 
the  forest  of  dangerous  animals,  and,  being  remote  from 
market,  the  need  of  getting  supplies  for  his  table 
from  forest  and  stream.  Rifle  and  rod  are  his  indis- 
pensable companions.  Then  there  was  plenty  of 
game.  The  Dutch  navigators  declared  they  saw,  from 
the  Half  Moon  as  they  sailed  up  the  Hudson,  in  the 
forest,  hons,  unicorns,  and  other  fabulous  beasts. 
The  fire-water  they  drank  probably  confused  their 
vision  and  their  zoology,  as  is  not  unusual.  One  of 
the  old  people  said  he  had  seen  in  the  meadow,  just 
above  Grreenwood,  tracks  of  panther  and  bear,  where 
they  crossed  from  one  mountain  to  another,  and  those 
of  wild  turkeys  as  thick  as  chicken  tracks  about  the 
hen-yard.  Clinton  mentions  the  presence  of  beavers 
and  their  work  in  constructing  their  dam.  One  well- 
known  citizen  tells  of  being  pursued  by  a  wolf  when 
sent  for  the  cattle  on  East  Mountain.  That  leap  and 
that  howl,  and  his  wild  ride  over  the  rocks,  he  never 
forgot.     A  party  were  going  up  to  a  certain  fortune- 

160 


Hunting  and  Fishing.  161 

teller's  on  Rye  Hill  when  a  bear  met  them.  They 
suddenly  lost  their  faith  in  the  supernatural,  leaving 
the  witch  of  Endor  to  study  the  stars  alone  that  night 
and  wonder  why  the  heavens  were  so  unpropitious. 
Ursa  Major  sometimes  put  in  an  appearance  in  these 
terrestrial  parts,  if  we  may  credit  the  story  of  the 
Prim  Swamp  bear-hunt  of  a  later  day.  It  seems  the 
report  was  circulated  in  the  village  that  a  bear  was 
seen  in  the  swamp  beyond  the  village,  whereupon 
every  huntsman  was  abroad  with  gun  and  pitchfork. 
A  goodly  number  of  dogs  and  boys  followed.  A 
Frenchman  called  Chevaux  de  Frise  volunteered  to  go 
in  and  drive  the  animal  from  his  lair.  Like  the  boy 
Putnam,  into  the  den  he  crept,  then  fell  back,  fol- 
lowed by  the  growling  beast.  Instantly  the  pack  of 
dogs  rushed  in.  As  he  wheeled,  the  little  Frenchman 
grabbed  the  bear  by  the  long  hair  on  his  haunches ; 
then  followed,  said  my  informant,  one  of  the  wildest 
battles  ever  seen.  The  dogs  yelped,  the  bear  growled, 
the  Gallic  hunter  was  swung  right  and  left  in  a  wild 
tussle.  One  old  man  cried,  "  Hold  him !  hold  him ! " 
then  threw  away  his  gun  and  fled.  When  the  bear  pre- 
sented a  vulnerable  side  where  he  could  be  shot  with- 
out injury  to  his  brave  antagonist,  Mr.  David  Knight 
drew  a  bead  on  him  and  laid  Bruin  low. 

Panther  and  wild-cat  would  often  steal  down  from 
the  mountains  where  they  denned  and  seize  a  shoat  or 
calf,  when  the  whole  neighborhood  would  tiu'n  out  to 
hunt  them  to  their  lair.  Even  the  women  were  good 
shots,  and  knew  how  to  defend  their  poultry-yards 
from  possum  and  hawk.  Sly  Reynard  would  occasion- 
ally depredate  upon  the  harem  of  the  old  gray  goose, 
perhaps  kilhng  the  "  very  one  she  was  saving  to  make 
a  feather  bed  " ;  then  there  would  be  a  fox-chase  in 
21 


162        Chfvnicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Oldest  Time. 

earnest, —  no  "pnrp  and  anise-seed  affair,"  but  a  wild 
tear  around  Pedlar  Hill  and  Woodcock,  resulting  in  the 
trophy  of  a  red  or  a  silver  pelt.  Deer  were  not  infre- 
quent in  the  forests  at  quite  a  late  period.  In  hunting 
these  beautiful  animals,  it  is  related  of  one  that  he  was 
so  excited  upon  seeing  a  splendid  buck  approach,  that 
he  snatched  his  ramrod  and  stuck  it  into  a  log  and 
dropped  his  rifle,  being  too  excited  to  fire.  Another 
was  posted  on  one  of  the  shores  of  Mombasha  to  watch 
for  a  deer,  while  others  would  drive  him  into  the  lake 
from  the  other  side.  As  a  fine  buck  came  swimming 
toward  the  former  huntsman,  he  attempted  to  seize 
him  by  the  horns,  when  the  agile  beast  lifted  him  on 
his  antlers  and  tossed  him  headlong  into  the  thicket, 
with  his  suit  nearly  torn  from  his  body.  Such  were 
some  of  the  sports  and  hair-breadth  escapes  of  those 
stalwart  men  and  women  of  old  Monroe. 

It  is  not  singular  that  Izaak  Walton  should  have 
many  disciples  in  this  region.  For,  as  we  have  seen, 
there  was  much  water  there.  The  lakes  and  brooks 
were  stocked  with  fish  even  when  the  Indian  roamed 
the  forest.  He  speared  the  salmon,  as  he  leaped 
the  falls  of  the  Ramapo,  and  from  his  birch 
canoe  enticed  perch  and  pike  to  ingenious  snares. 
The  surveyor  speaks  of  a  trout-brook,  near  Sugar- 
loaf,  where  was  an  Indian  settlement ;  so  that  these 
speckled  beauties  antedated  the  white  man.  Pick- 
erel and  black  and  rock  bass  were  an  importa- 
tion of  recent  date.  When  Mr.  Jonah  Brooks  caught 
his  first  four-pound  bass,  he  insisted  upon  going 
home,  because  it  was  glory  enough  for  one  day.  With 
what  devotion  many  followed  this  apostolic  avocation, 
even  the  dominie,  of  whom  a  wag  said  he  always 
knew  when  his  barrel  of  pork  w^as  out,  for  he  would 
see  him  with  his  rod  on  his  shoulder ! 


Hunting  and  Fishing.  163 

What  a  joy  to  plunge  into  the  soHtude  and  whip 
some  wild  stream,  wading,  climbing  over  slippery- 
rocks,  and  skittering  a  gaudy  fly  over  riffle  or  pool! 
There  one  gets  at  the  very  heart  of  Nature,  and  if 
he  have  a  knowledge  of  the  gentle  art  and  golden 
patience,  he  is  not  likely  to  come  home  unrewarded. 
A  fishing  fever  usually  was  of  days'  duration :  one 
the  preparation,  in  which  the  bait  of  minnows  or 
crickets  were  captured,  or  flies  made.  We  say 
made,  for  Mr.  Townsend  captured  a  splendid  trout 
with  a  fly  made  of  a  yellow  envelope  and  a  bit  of 
red  sealing-wax.  It  was  a  grotesque  sight  to  see 
several  gentlemen  on  their  knees  in  some  bit  of  stubble 
chasing  crickets  and  grasshoppers.  The  collection 
of  rents,  and  sowing  of  tares  by  the  housewives  in 
consequence,  was  a  standing  joke.  The  bait  must 
be  preserved  ahve,  and  if  it  were  minnows,  they  were 
placed  in  the  spring.  Then,  long  before  dayUght,  the 
jolly  party  would  be  off.  All  day  long  they  would 
toil,  often  returning  with  the  spoils  of  the  beautiful 
lakes  which  afford  young  and  old  so  much  of  in- 
nocent enjoyment.  Sometimes  there  were  amusing 
experiences.  Mr.  John  Goff  slipped  in  while  fishing 
through  the  ice.  He  took  out  his  pocket-knife  and 
cut  ridges  in  the  ice  to  grip  with  his  fingers.  But 
they  slipped.  He  then  induced  his  dog  to  bring  his 
mittens,  which  lay  on  the  ice.  These  he  let  freeze 
in  the  ridges,  and  thereby  he  pulled  himself  out. 

Allen  Knight  hooked  a  big  turtle  at  Mombasha.  He 
was  weak  and  sickly  at  that  time,  and  found  the  huge 
terrapin  too  much  for  him. 

As  he  was  about  taking  a  plunge,  Mr.  H.  J.  Bertholf 
caught  him  by  the  waist,  then  Mr.  C.  B.  Knight  re- 
inforced the  rescuing  party,  and  all  came  ashore  to- 
gether, not  omitting  the  rebellious  hardshell.     Two 


164        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

dominies  had  fished  all  day  and  taken  nothing.  A 
fisherman  called  for  help  ;  his  boat  was  full  of  water. 
He  had  caught  one  of  these  snappish  creatures,  and 
was  holding  him  down  with  his  oar.  The  dominies 
offered  help.  "  Why  don't  you  tie  him  ?  "  asked  one. 
"  I  never  heard  of  tying  a  snapping-turtle,"  he  re- 
sponded. Then  the  man  of  the  cloth  showed  him 
how  to  put  his  anchor-rope  in  his  mouth  for  a  bridle, 
and  when  his  head  was  drawn  in,  draw  the  rope 
under  the  shell  and  tie  a  flat  knot  over  his  tail,  and  he 
was  secure. 

"  Well,"  said  the  other  dominie,  "  this  is  a  great  note, 
that  a  dominie  should  teach  an  old  fisherman  how  to 
tie  a  turtle."  "  Well,"  responded  the  fellow,  "  what 
these  dominies  don't  know,  there  's  no  use  knowing." 
Then  he  filled  their  empty  basket  with  fish.  We  can 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  this.  For  the  next  we  rely  on 
tradition  :  that  a  drunken  fisherman  was  drowned  one 
Sunday.  When  he  was  fished  out,  and  his  wife  sent 
for,  her  lament  was  in  the  memorable  words  :  "  Poor 
Joe,  he  went  fishing  fifty  times  on  Sunday,  and  never 
got  di'owned  before." 

The  fishing  advantages  of  Monroe,  and  the  many 
sports  of  the  woods  and  streams,  always  make  it  an 
attractive  spot.  How  many  congenial  spirits  it  brings 
together  for  innocent  amusement,  and  what  advan- 
tages it  offers  for  summer  visitors  and  permanent 
residents !  Cottages  and  club-houses  are  springing 
up  at  present  on  crest  and  lakeside,  but  there  are  still 
some  shaded  nooks  where  the  lover  of  nature  can 
fill  his  fernery  or  trout-basket  unmolested  by  the  world 
of  fashion  and  folly. 

The  people  of  the  olden  time  had  other  amusements 
beside  fishing  and  hunting.     They  had  stone-bees  and 


Hunting  and  Fishing.  165 

raisings.  The  women  had  apple-cuttings,  qniltings 
and  spinning-froHcs.  The  yarn  or  flax  would  be  given 
out,  and  at  an  appointed  time  and  place  the  material 
would  be  returned,  and  there  would  be  a  feast,  possi- 
bly a  dance  of  the  stately  minuet  or  Virginia  reel. 
Corn-huskings  were  not  uncommon  in  bringing  young 
and  old  together  in  innocent  frolic,  resulting  in  many 
a  wedding.  Horse-racing  was  a  favorite  sport,  de- 
fended on  the  ground  of  improving  the  stock  of 
horses.  The  lane  was  the  race-course.  But  it  was 
found  that  racing-day  attracted  such  a  motley  crowd, 
and  was  attended  with  so  much  drunkenness  and  dis- 
order, that  pubHc  opinion  at  length  suppressed  it. 

Snakes  of  different  species  have  abounded,  as  might 
be  expected  in  such  a  stony  region.  Not  merely  the 
harmless  garter  and  saucy  milk  snake  that  gUdes  in 
and  out  of  the  milk-house,  and  the  insinuating  black 
snake  that  robs  the  robin's  nest,  but  the  deadly  rat- 
tler and  copperhead.  These  two  last,  like  their  moral 
counterparts,  the  thief  and  the  murderer,  den  together, 
leading  some  to  suppose  that  they  are  merely  male 
and  female.  But  the  close  student  of  nature  puts 
them  in  different  classes.  They  both  ahke  are  hated, 
and  reahze  the  truth  of  the  divine  promise,  "I  will 
put  enmity  betwixt  thee  and  her  seed."  One  of  our 
ladies  chmbed  to  a  nook  on  the  East  Mountain,  where 
she  was  accustomed  to  go  to  read  and  sew.  Suddenly 
she  found  herself  in  the  midst  of  a  circle  of  rattle- 
snakes, which  had  come  out  of  their  dens  to  sun  them- 
selves. Heads  were  erect,  tongues  flaming  and  rattles 
ringing  out  alarm  and  defiance  all  about  her.  There 
was  little  chance  for  retreat.  Plucky  maid !  She  picked 
up  stones  that  lay  around  in  abundance,  she  pelted 
them  right  and  left,  till  she  made  a  way  by  which  she 


166        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

could  make  a  safe  retreat,  and  lived  to  recount  to  lier 
children  her  adventure  and  di'aw  the  lessons  of  life 
it  clearly  taught.  Often  these  and  their  congeners, 
the  pilots,  would  be  thrown  up  with  a  forkful  of  hay 
upon  the  hay- wagon,  when  the  low  meadows  were  the 
scene  of  such  labors.  It  was  not  an  easy  question  to 
settle  which  were  the  safer  post,  that  of  pitcher  or 
loader.  A  fight  with  a  lively  rattler  at  such  a  time 
was  excelled  only  by  a  scrimmage  with  a  nest  of  hor- 
nets or  yellow- jackets. 

Not  many  years  since  a  rattlesnake  was  killed  in 
Mrs.  Carpenter's  garden  in  the  village.  One  of  our 
savants  begged  the  carcass  to  experiment  with  and 
test  it  as  an  article  of  food.  He  had  eaten  alhgator 
and  couter  in  Florida,  and  assuming  that  all  things 
are  given  for  a  useful  purpose,  whether  fish,  flesh,  or 
fowl  for  food,  he  was  determined  to  carry  out  his 
theory.  After  considerable  difficulty  he  persuaded 
his  sister  to  cook  some  of  the  rattler.  He  tasted  it 
and  said,  "  It  has  a  wild-gamy  flavor."  He  then  took 
some  on  a  httle  dish  to  the  good  lady  in  whose  garden 
it  was  killed.  When  he  offered  her  the  present,  she  said, 

"B ,  set  that  dish  on  the  end  of  the  piazza.    Thee 

has  enough  rattlesnake  to  supply  all  the  village."  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  this  experiment  was  not  a  suc- 
cess in  adding  this  new  dish  to  the  cuisine  of  Monroe. 

Rabbit-hunting  was  more  of  a  pleasure  to  those 
who  participated  in  it  than  to  the  farmer;  for,  as  the 
game  took  refuge  not  seldom  in  the  stone  fences,  rods 
of  fence  w^ere  often  torn  down,  costing  $1.50  a  rod,  to 
capture  a  poor  little  rabbit  worth  but  a  shilhng. 

Bee-hunting  and  bee-raising  were  sources  of  amuse- 
ment to  some.  The  skilled  bee-hunter  knew  how  to 
follow  the  honey-makers  to  their  improvised  hives  in 


Hunting  and  Fishing.  167 

trees  and  old  buildings,  showing  skill  in  follow- 
ing them,  and  knew  how  to  capture  their  stores 
without  the  sound  of  trump  or  shout  of  battle  like 
the  Japanese  warriors.  But  a  common  method  of 
bringing  an  escaping  swarm  to  a  halt  was  to  summon 
the  whole  household,  and,  armed  with  pans  and  stove- 
pipe, fill  the  air  with  horrible  discords,  enough  to  rend 
the  ears  of  the  listener  and  bring  every  musical  ear  to 
surrender.  The  watchful  apiary  seldom  had  to  resort 
to  such  methods,  because  a  swarm  always  alights  near 
by  before  it  starts  to  its  more  distant  destination. 
Then  there  were  some,  like  the  late  Nathanael  Thomp- 
son, who  could  handle  them  with  perfect  ease,  uncar- 
ing if  ever  receiving  a  sting.  Others  were  not  so 
successful  in  their  management.  One  of  the  minis- 
ters loved  bee-culture,  but  had  constant  difficulty  with 
them.  They  used  to  swarm  when  he  was  absent,  or 
on  Sunday  when  he  was  occupied.  One  evening  he 
sent  for  a  neighbor  to  help  him  hive  a  swarm  in  an 
apple  tree.  The  skip  was  washed  with  hickory  leaves 
and  made  ready.  Then  the  swarm  was  coaxed  reluc- 
tantly into  the  hive.  But  a  number  of  stragglers 
alighted  upon  the  persons  of  the  operators.  The 
neighbor  found  some  inside  his  trousers,  and  played 
some  fantastic  tricks  before  the  windows  of  the  par- 
sonage, where  ladies  were  assembling  for  a  prayer- 
meeting.  The  dominie  carried  some  bees  on  his 
clothes  into  the  meeting,  where  the  sting  of  one 
chided  his  dullness,  and  the  presence  of  others  kept  all 
awake. 

Hornets  and  bumblebees,  so  called,  were  a  great 
annoyance  in  the  harvest-field,  particularly  the  low 
meadows.  We  have  seen  a  general  stampede  from 
these  wild  marauders.    One  old  mower,  however,  loved 


168        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

to  fight  them,  and  woiild  beg  that  they  be  left  undis- 
turbed till  evening,  when  he  could  have  the  pleasure 
of  burning  them  out.  In  resisting  one  of  these  fiery 
Uttle  animals,  he  gave  himself  such  a  rap  on  his  knee 
that  he  had  to  leave  the  field.  His  employer,  the 
dominie,  too,  carried  to  the  pulpit  a  swollen  eye  as 
the  result  of  a  similar  encounter. 


CHAPTEE  XXYI. 


MILITIA   TRAINING. 


IT  may  not  be  improper  to  include  militia  training 
among  the  amusements  of  the  time,  although  it 
had  a  more  serious  intent.  Under  the  old  militia  law 
all  able-bodied  men  over  eighteen  years  of  age  were 
required  at  stated  times  to  assemble  for  military  drill. 
The  militia  of  the  three  towns,  Monroe,  Cornwall  and 
Blooming  Grrove,  formed  the  ninety-first  regiment  of 
the  nineteenth  brigade,  fifth  division  of  the  army.  In 
this  town  there  were  three  ununiformed  companies, 
yclept  barefoot  companies,  and  one  uniformed  com- 
pany. The  latter  were  dressed  in  a  neat  suit  of  white 
and  gray,  with  hat  adorned  with  red  and  white  feathers. 
The  officers  were  in  gayer  uniform  and  cocked  hats. 
The  ununiformed  appeared  as  fancy  or  necessity  dic- 
tated. They  were  required  to  provide  their  own 
weapons ;  and  such  a  variety  of  dress  and  weapons, 
from  an  old  flint-lock  musket  to  a  hickory  cudgel,  has 
scarce  been  seen  since  the  days  of  Sir  John  Falstaff. 
There  were  company  drills,  officer  parades  and  general 
training.  The  last  was  supposed  to  embrace  all  the 
virtues  of  the  others,  while  it  absorbed  the  greatest 
attention.  For  days  there  would  be  a  brushing  of 
feathers,  burnishing  of  old  muskets,  and  pipe-claying 
of  belts.  On  the  gala  day  might  be  seen  the  multitude 
22  169 


170        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time, 

wending  their  way  to  the  campus  on  the  flat.  Motley 
groups  of  all  classes,  conditions  and  color,  of  men, 
women  and  children,  in  all  sorts  of  vehicles,  or  on 
foot,  in  all  their  holiday  apparel,  were  seen  hastening 
to  the  proud  spectacle,  each  afraid  it  would  be  over 
before  he  should  get  there.  Strategic  places  are 
chosen,  booths  set  up  for  the  sale  of  gingerbread, 
card  cake  and  beer,  the  volunteer  commissariat  of  the 
citizen  army.  Soon  the  brave  soldiers  are  seen  with 
homespun  suits  and  motley  weapons,  and  the  band 
at  their  head,  and  their  gaily  caparisoned  officers  on 
their  proud  horses,  as  fully  ahve  as  their  riders  to  the 
glories  of  the  pageant.  The  word  of  command  is  given, 
the  line  is  formed,  or  attempted  to  be  formed ;  for  it 
is  difficult  to  get  some  of  those  barefeet  in  line,  and 
some  of  those  shillalahs  to  ground  at  the  proper 
moment,  and  keep  the  eyes  right  from  wandering  to 
the  groups  of  the  fair  or  the  tables  of  the  commis- 
sary. But  when  arranged  to  suit  a  military  eye,  they 
go  through  all  the  evolutions  of  the  field,  with  drum, 
fife,  flag  and  guidon,  proud  of  the  service  they  were 
rendering  their  country.  Of  course,  in  such  voliin- 
teer  soldiering,  composed  of  such  a  motley  throng, 
there  would  often  be  scenes  of  merriment.  It  was 
related  of  one  of  the  officers  that  he  was  very  impa- 
tient of  any  breach  of  order,  and  would  charge  down 
upon  a  noisy  group  and  snatch  the  loudest  from  the 
field  and  drop  him  in  the  graveyard  near  by.  Nor 
were  the  officers  exempt  from  being  the  target  of  wit, 
for  it  is  still  told  that  one  of  these  forgot  the  manual 
and  ordered  his  men  to  haughey  around  a  mud-pud- 
dle. The  drummer  of  this  regiment  was  Greorge 
Mapes,  a  member  of  an  old  family  remarkable  for 
musical  gifts.     Greorge  excelled  them  all,  and  was  the 


Militia  Training.  171 

pride  of  Monroe.  He  was  said  to  have  had  a  trial 
match  with  the  drum-major  at  West  Point,  and  to 
have  compelled  the  strutting  man  of  the  bearskin 
hat  to  throw  up  his  baton  in  despair.  Little  is  said 
about  the  fifing.  Perhaps  it  was  not  so  essential  as 
the  drum,  or  possibly  it  may  have  been  nothing  to 
brag  of,  as  was  the  case  later  on,  when  the  fifer  said, 
"If  I  come  to  a  note  I  cannot  play,  I  do  not 
play  it";  this  giving  it  a  Wagnerian  effect.  Under 
such  inspiring  strains  the  column  would  march  and 
counter-march,  charge  and  retreat,  till  the  sun  would 
sink  in  the  west,  when  the  order  of  dismissal  would 
pass  along  the  line,  and  then  would  ensue  such  a 
stampede  and  intermingling  of  the  motley  throng, 
soldier  and  civilian  each  breaking  for  home,  glad 
when  this  mimic  war  was  over.  But  while  it  seemed 
a  burlesque,  it  served  to  keep  the  old  military  spirit 
ahve;  and  even  after  the  law  was  repealed  which 
appointed  public  militia  trainings,  the  martial  flame 
was  kept  alive  which  broke  forth  in  sober  reality 
during  the  Rebellion,  and  impelled  some  of  Monroe's 
best  and  bravest  sons  to  go  to  the  front  and  jeopardize 
their  lives  for  Liberty  and  Union. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


THE  SINGING  SCHOOL. 


THE  country  singing  school  was  another  source  of 
amusement.  Far  back  in  the  history  of  the 
town,  it  was  the  custom  to  engage  a  singing-master 
to  drill  the  young  folks  in  music.  That  divine  art 
was  needed  then,  as  now,  to  beautify  home  and  social 
hie;  and  where  there  was  no  instrument  in  the 
churches,  it  was  essential  not  only  to  be  able  to  sing, 
but  to  read  music.  Hence  the  winter  class  in  music 
was  a  desideratum.  A  Yankee  singing-master  would 
come  into  the  county  with  his  violin  and  establish 
classes  in  every  neighborhood.  Congenial  souls  and 
harmonious  voices  would  interchange  visits,  thus 
promoting  neighborliness  and  wider  musical  culture. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  in  ethnology  that  certain 
tribes  and  families  are  musical,  while  others  are  inca- 
pable of  distinguishing  musical  tones.  Grottschalk's 
"  Last  Hope  "  to  some  is  little  better  than  a  Chinese 
march  in  which  there  are  no  semitones.  The  man 
who  has  no  music  in  his  soul,  if  not  always  "fit 
for  treasons,"  certainly  loses  much  of  the  sweetness 
of  hfe.  Monroe  had  its  full  share  of  good  voices,  or 
the  possibilities  of  such.  For  singers  are  both  born 
and  made ;  that  is,  voices  which  in  the  rough  seem 
very  unmusical,  can  be  taken  and  trained  and  pohshed 

172 


TJie  Singing  School.  173 

so  as  to  yield  satisfactory  results.  This  work  of  find- 
ing and  training  both  voice  and  ear  was  the  task  of 
the  singing-master.  When  the  raw  material  pre- 
sented itself  for  the  first  time,  and  was  put  through 
the  elementary  principles,  it  were  enough  to  discour- 
age and  distract  the  cultured  ear ;  but  the  same  voice 
by  and  by  will  sound  the  deep  diapason,  or  sigh 
through  the  semitones,  with  marvellous  skill.  The 
singing-master  needed  to  have  a  stock  of  good-nature 
and  patience.  The  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
prevails  here,  as  elsewhere  in  nature.  The  early 
forms  and  nomenclature  made  the  task  of  master  and 
pupil  hard  then.  The  former  talked  of  breves  and 
semibreves,  crotchets  and  quavers,  semi-  and  even 
demisemiquavers.  The  parts  were  divided  into  so 
many  classes  that  it  was  difficult  for  one  to  tell  whether 
the  voice  was  fitted  for  air,  or  second  soprano,  or 
counter,  alto  or  tenor,  baritone  or  bass.  With  all 
these  fine  distinctions,  there  were  voices  that  could 
not  be  classified;  the  only  alternative  being  to  be 
asked  to  desist.  Some  wiseacre  tried  to  simplify  the 
art  by  inventing  the  buckwheat  notes ;  thus  trying 
to  aid  the  ear  by  the  eye.  But  the  system  yielded 
no  better  results,  and  hence  was  soon  abandoned,  hke 
many  labor-saving  expedients  in  education.  There 
must  be  a  certain  amount  of  toil  to  acquire  any 
treasure  in  the  school  of  life.  The  prizes  in  music 
are  at  the  goal  of  the  stadium.  But  we  fancy  the 
race  was  needlessly  hard  in  those  days.  Probably 
taste  and  fashion  had  much  to  do  with  it.  Glance  at 
the  old  tunes  used  in  church :  Devizes,  Russia,  Invita- 
tion, with  its  fugues,  the  gloomy  minors,  China  and 
Windham,  associated  not  merely  with  the  funeral, 
but  also  with  the  communion.     The  numerous  trills 


174       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

required  great  flexibility  of  voice,  and  the  intricate 
fugues  as  great  accuracy  of  time.  But  the  pupils  were 
catechized  upon  dynamics  and  rhythm,  and  exercised 
in  appoggiaturas.  Sweeping  up  and  down  the  gamut, 
vaulting  over  bars,  and  holding  breath  at  rests,  they 
acquired  the  skill  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  that 
divine  science.  One  of  their  favorite  exercises  was 
the  round,  and  they  swung  "  Old  John  Cross,"  beat- 
ing in  the  ABC  till  they  were  as  dizzy  as  the  school- 
boy whirling  under  the  rod,  and  shouted  "  Scotland's 
Burning"  with  cries  of  "Fire!"  sufficient  to  arouse 
the  whole  village.  If  they  shed  tears  over  some  piti- 
ful minor,  they  were  all  in  good  humor  again  over 
"  Cousin  Jedediah."  Now  they  try  some  old  Grego- 
rian chant,  and  then  are  asking,  "  Don't  you  hear  the 
ripe  fruit  falling  ?  "  They  try  some  sweet  strain  of 
Mendelssohn,  and  even  aspire  to  the  intricacy  and 
grandeur  of  the  "  Grand  Hallelujah."  All  through  the 
Civil  War  they  sang  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner," 
"Rally  Round  the  Flag,"  "  Tenting  on  the  Old  Camp 
Ground,"  and  other  patriotic  songs,  not  merely  train- 
ing their  voices,  but  firing  their  spirit  of  patriotism 
at  home,  while  brothers  and  fathers  were  maintain- 
ing the  honor  of  the  old  flag  in  the  field. 

These  singing-school  exercises  usually  culminated 
in  a  concert  in  which  the  whole  musical  talent  of  the 
place  would  be  laid  under  contribution,  neighboring 
help  called  in,  and  a  grand  programme  would  be  given 
with  instrument  and  voice.  Although  the  strains 
have  died  away,  the  memory  remains  of  solos,  duets, 
and  choruses,  grave  and  gay,  from  the  "Little  farm 
well  tilled"  to  the  oratorio  of  "  Esther,"  with  its  intri- 
cate variety  of  action  and  personality.  Sometimes  the 
convention  would  come,  and  then  the  whole  county 
would  send  its  best  voices  to  be  trained  by  some  spe- 


Tlie  Singing  School.  175 

cialist  like  Professor  Palmer  or  Perkins  in  a  wliole 
week  of  song. 

The  earliest  mentioned  teacher  of  singing  in  Monroe 
was  Professor  Converse.  He  was  the  father  of  Pro- 
fessor Charles  Converse,  the  composer.  The  father 
was  very  popular  in  the  olden  time,  and  regarded  as 
the  model  of  a  singing  teacher,  painstaking,  tactful, 
and  patient.  Andrew  Van  Valer  rendered  good  ser- 
vice to  the  cause  of  music.  He  and  his  daughters 
for  a  long  time  took  the  lead  in  the  music  of  the 
church.  He  built  four  organs,  a  piano,  with  violin 
and  cello.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  energy,  de- 
cision, versatile  talent  and  robust  piety.  He  died  at 
Watkins,  New  York,  March  14,  1882,  aged  ninety- 
four.     His  was  a  fruitful  old  age. 

Professor  I.  B.  Swezey  was  engaged  many  succes- 
sive years  in  teaching  music  in  Monroe.  Notwith- 
standiDg  his  peculiar  theory  and  phrases  about  the 
shock  of  the  glottis  and  tacting  tones,  he  gave  such 
attention  to  voice-culture  as  to  develop  some  excellent 
singers. 

Professor  L.  L.  Ross  also  was  a  favorite.  He  had 
a  choice  collection  of  humorous  songs,  several  of 
which  were  original,  and  were  often  encored ;  such  as 
"  The  little  brown  jug,  with  its  glug,  glug,  glug," 
"  How  many  might  have  gone  to  Washington  if  it  had 
not  been  for  you,"  and  "  The  httle  farm  well  tilled." 
"  The  little  wife  well  willed  "  was  another  favorite, 
and  struck  a  responsive  chord  in  many  a  heart.  Pro- 
fessor Ross's  work  culminated  in  bringing  out  the 
oratorio  of  "  Esther"  with  no  little  success. 

Out  of  all  this  devotion  to  the  art  grew  a  choral 
society  which  flourished  for  many  years,  and  gave 
concerts  every  winter,  which  formed  a  most  delight- 
ful social  amusement.     The  leader  in  this  was  Mr, 


176        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Eugene  McGarrah,  who  to  his  large  acquaintance 
with  music,  vocal  and  instrumental,  added  exquisite 
taste,  and  by  his  sincere  love  of  its  highest  forms 
enthused  others  and  so  gave  the  pubhc  many  a  musi- 
cal treat.  Above  and  beyond  his  companions,  facile 
princeps,  he  sought  to  educate  them  up  to  his  stan- 
dard, and  we  believe  not  without  a  degree  of  success. 
Several  musical  compositions  have  proceeded  from 
his  pen — among  them  an  original  Te  Deum  and  some 
church  tunes. 

Others  who  were  among  the  sturdy  supporters  of 
the  singing  school  were  Henry  Mapes  and  wife,  the 
Misses  Boyd,  the  Thompson  brothers,  and  many 
others  whose  names  we  have  not  space  to  recall. 

The  musical  entertainments  of  Monroe  were  often 
indebted  to  performers  from  other  towns,  among 
whom  were  Professor  John  Marvin,  Jesse  Strong  and 
Wilham  Howell.  We  mention  with  special  emphasis 
the  name  of  Samuel  Marvin,  brother  of  John.  His 
bass  voice  was  of  wonderful  depth  and  richness.  He 
was  often  present  to  inspii'e  with  his  manly  face  and 
genial  manner,  to  help  swell  the  anthem  or  take  his 
part  in  duet  or  solo.  He  was  called,  in  the  freshness 
of  his  manhood,  to  go  up  higher  and  take  his  part  in 
that  grand  "Hallelujah"  whose  voices  are  like  those 
of  many  waters.  He  died  March  23, 1881,  aged  forty- 
two  years,  six  months,  eleven  days. 

Other  sweet  singers  who  have  made  the  walls  of 
the  old  meeting-house  ring,  and  thrilled  many  a  tired 
toiler  in  the  home,  are  among  the  white-robed  choris- 
ters, while  some  who  loved  and  survived  are  saying : 

"  Oh  for  the  touch  of  a  vanish'd  hand, 
And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still ! " 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


THE  DEBATING  SOCIETY. 


ANOTHER  source  of  amusement  was  the  Debating 
/A  Society.  There  is  a  period  in  intellectual  de- 
velopment when  it  is  awaking  from  sleep  and,  toss- 
ing off  its  environment,  wants  to  try  its  nascent 
powers.  As  soon  as  a  community  gets  leisure  from 
the  toil  of  settlement,  it  aspires  to  grapple  with  other 
problems.  It  has  its  renaissance,  or  revival,  of 
reason.  Like  a  child  with  a  new  knife,  it  desires  to 
try  its  edge  on  everything  alike,  even  the  old  heir- 
looms, family  portraits  and  furniture.  With  it  the 
results  of  experience,  the  institutions  of  the  past  and 
even  the  deductions  of  science  and  philosophy  are  to 
be  tested,  and  hence  are  brought  to  the  crucible  and 
scales.  Milton  says,  "  Let  all  the  winds  of  doctrine 
loose."  Truth  has  nothing  to  fear,  so  it  be  untram- 
meled.  Even  with  respect  to  great  established  faiths 
there  is  always  room  for  discussion,  and  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  sohd  foundations  on  which  they  rest 
tends  often  to  confirm  and  convert  the  traditional 
faith  into  the  faith  that  is  the  substance  or  demon- 
stration of  "  things  not  seen." 

Monroe  had  its  waking  up  in  the  forties,  when  en- 
terprise in  the  shape  of  the  iron  horse  came  snorting 
up  the  Ramapo.     New  families  were  coming  in,  new 
enterprises  starting.     They  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
23  177 


178        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Milky  Way,  and  concluded  to  stir  the  star-dust  with 
their  chariot  wheels.  The  society  met  in  the  shop  of 
John  Jenkins,  where  minerals,  magnets,  hooks  and 
curios  confronted  the  members.  The  moving  spirits 
were  John  Brooks,  Dr.  Ethan  B.  Carpenter,  Alfred  P. 
Hulse,  Brewster  Tuthill,  David  Lynch,  Ahner  Howell, 
John  Jenkins,  Greorge  Goff,  James  Cromwell,  Jonah 
Brooks  and  Ehenezer  Earl.  Judge  White  and  Matthew 
Howell,  of  Blooming  Grove,  would  sometimes  come 
over  and  take  a  hand  in  the  contest.  The  meetings 
were  conducted  with  parliamentary  precision  and 
were  largely  attended.  The  questions  discussed  took 
a  wide  range,  embracing  subjects  political,  meta- 
physical, moral  and  theological.  In  these  tourna- 
ments many  a  spear  was  broken,  many  a  proud 
knight  in  the  armor  of  sophistry  put  hors  de  comhat. 

A  brave  matador  would  leap  into  the  ring  only  to 
find  himself  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma.  Some  self- 
confident  debater  would  broach  some  Utopian  theory, 
or  tangle  himself  in  some  casuistical  knot,  when  a 
sall}^  of  wit  would  bring  him  to  his  senses.  One  of 
the  exciting  questions  discussed  was  "  Is  married  life 
more  conducive  to  human  happiness  than  single?" 
One  of  the  older  men  argued  that  it  would  be  more 
so  if  there  was  as  much  care  taken  in  selecting  part- 
ners as  was  exercised  in  the  improvement  of  stock. 
Just  here  some  wise  woman  spoke  out  and  said, 
"  Then  they  would  not  take  you."  But  all  their 
theories  were  as  thistledown,  for  each  followed  the 
bent  of  his  inclination,  looked  up  his  missing  rib  and 
took  his  place  in  the  more  serious  battle  of  life. 

When  the  next  generation  came  on  the  stage,  there 
was  a  desire  to  repeat  the  experiment  of  a  debating 
society.     This  met  in  the  basement  of  the  Presby- 


Tlie  Debating  Society.  179 

terian  churcli.  Some  of  the  old  war-horses,  such  as 
Alfred  Hulse  and  Dr.  E.  B.  Carpenter,  survived  to 
help  on  the  enterprise.  To  these  were  added  A.  B. 
Hulse,  Theo.  McGrarrah,  Job  Mapes,  Geo.  Ezray, 
Chauncey  Newkirk,  Roe  Pilgrim,  Joseph  Andrews, 
Henry  Mapes,  Samuel  Bull,  Geo.  K.  Smith  and  the 
author.  The  interval  from  1854  to  1859  was  full  of 
exciting  political  and  economic  questions,  and  these 
were  debated  with  no  httle  zeal  and  seriousness. 
There  was  no  time  for  the  hackneyed  questions  of 
such  societies  when  the  country  was  seething  with 
the  problems  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law,  and  the  extension  of  slavery  into 
free  temtory.  These  and  other  serious  questions 
were  debated  with  great  earnestness,  and  much  in- 
struction was  elicited.  But  as  the  issues  approached 
the  momentous  period  when  the  appeal  was  taken 
from  the  forum  to  the  iSeld,  the  society  closed.  The 
tendency  of  these  discussions  some  were  inclined  to 
regard  as  evil,  because  of  assaults  upon  estabhshed 
faiths.  But,  when  buttressed  in  truth,  such  assaults 
are  as  futile  as  the  waves  against  a  rock  of  adamant; 
while  the  exercise  of  investigation  and  discussion, 
even  though  it  strike  a  rock,  is  salutary,  helping  to 
mental  discipline  and  character-building.  It  is  our 
opinion  that  these  contests  tended  to  awaken  talent 
and  fit  some  of  its  members  for  the  legislature,  legal 
profession  and  editorial  chair. 

A  village  library  grew  out  of  the  first  Debating 
Society,  but  it  had  only  an  ephemeral  existence ;  and 
a  reading  circle  from  the  last.  Both  have  merged  into 
the  Christian  Endeavor  and  Epworth  League,  and  it 
is  hoped  they  may  be  longer  lived,  founded  as  they 
are  on  a  religious  basis. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LOVE   OF  LIBEETY  AND   PATEIOTISM. 

MONROE  was  forward  in  every  good  cause.  Its 
people,  male  and  female,  were  liberty-loving, 
patriotic,  and  aspiring  after  higher  planes  of  order  and 
right.  This  was  well  illustrated  in  the  wish  of  one  of 
its  aged  men  that  he  could  hve  to  see  constitutional 
hberty  established  throughout  the  world.  As  far 
back  as  1808  the  Fourth  of  July  was  observed  in  a 
public  manner.  A  procession,  civic  and  military,  was 
formed  at  the  upper  village.  Seventeen  young 
girls,  dressed  in  white,  rode  in  procession  to  the  old 
church,  Mr.  Moffat  heading  the  column,  carrying  a 
hberty-cap.  Our  informant,  Mrs.  Daniel  Knight,  said 
she  rode  beside  Miss  Gralloway.  The  bonnets  they 
wore  stood  out  like  a  wheat-fan,  and  were  tied  down 
over  their  ears.  The  oration  was  delivered  by  her 
brother,  Mr.  John  Brooks.  In  the  evening  there  was 
a  feast  and  merrymaking. 

The  next  occasion  of  patriotic  interest  was  the 
celebration  of  Oreek  independence  in  the  year  1832. 
That  brave  people  had  succeeded  in  breaking  the 
yoke  of  the  unspeakable  Turk,  and  every  lover  of 
liberty  and  classic  fame  sympathized  with  the  strug- 
gling Greeks.  The  Rev.  John  White  was  the  moving 
spirit  in  Monroe.     He   aroused  the  people  to   con- 

180 


Love  of  Liberty  and  Patriotism.  181 

tribute,  and  considerable  money  was  raised  to  aid  the 
cause.  A  grand  public  meeting  was  held  at  the  old 
historic  church.  Navarino  bonnets,  in  honor  of  the 
decisive  battle,  were  worn  by  all  the  ladies.  The 
frame  was  of  pasteboard,  covered  with  ribbons  and 
flowers  to  suit  the  taste.  One  of  the  old  men  de- 
clared that  when  he  saw  a  woman  dressed  in  one  of 
them,  it  looked  like  a  canoe  coming. 

A  second  Fourth  of  July  celebration  was  held  in 
Monroe  in  1855.  A  procession  was  formed,  with  Mr. 
John  Jenkins  as  marshal,  dressed  in  an  officer's  uni- 
form of  the  olden  times.  It  proceeded  to  the  new 
Presbyterian  church  in  the  village,  where  an  oration 
was  delivered  by  Charles  Winfield,  Esq.,  in  the  presence 
of  a  large  assembly.  Refreshments  were  served  by 
the  ladies  in  the  unfinished  basement.  A  pubhc  ban- 
quet was  given  at  Groff's  Hotel,  at  which  speeches 
were  made,  and  the  famous  toast  given,  "  The  Mon- 
roe doctrine,  the  doctrine  of  Monroe." 

Another  occasion  worthy  of  mention  was  the  ob- 
servance of  Centennial  year  — 1876.  It  was  celebrated 
by  an  entertainment  at  the  Presbyterian  parsonage, 
consisting  of  an  exhibit  of  relics  of  the  ancient  past, 
and  an  old-time  supper  at  which  the  ladies  appeared 
in  Lady  Washington  caps  and  antique  costumes.  It 
was  astonishing  what  an  array  of  old  things  were 
brought  out  from  garret  and  bureau.  There  were 
spinning-wheels  for  flax  and  wool,  cards  and  combs, 
hatchel  and  break,  brass  candlesticks  and  snuff- 
dishes,  andirons  and  bellows,  a  clock  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  Xiy,  finger-rings  and  brooches,  old  silver  and 
china,  samplers  and  needlework,  a  M^arming-pan,  foot- 
stove  and  old  tinder-box  and  flint.  Mrs.  Dr.  Gignoux 
contributed  fine  old  miniatures  of  the  family,  and 


182        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  lime. 

Mrs.  Alfred  Hulse  loaned  the  wardrobe  of  little  Miss 
Nancy  Brewster,  a  dwarf  relative  of  her  family,  who 
was  presented  to  General  Washington,  and  received 
by  him  with  marked  favor.  She  was  scarcely  over 
three  feet  high ;  her  slipper  would  fit  a  child  of  five 
or  six  years.  This  entire  entertainment  seemed  to 
materialize  the  olden  time  with  its  modes  of  life,  and 
bring  the  gray  fathers  and  mothers,  with  their  quaint 
attire  and  industries,  in  moving  panorama  before  us. 

This  brings  us  to  consider  another  illustration  of 
the  love  of  liberty  and  patriotism  on  the  part  of  these 
people.  As  years  rolled  on,  the  institution  of  slavery 
came  to  be  regarded  more  and  more  as  a  stain  on  the 
escutcheon  of  the  country,  as  well  as  a  blot  on  civili- 
zation. The  question  had  been  thoroughly  discussed 
in  the  debating  societies  of  the  town,  and  although 
there  were  strong  minds  in  favor  of  the  constitutional 
recognition  of  it,  yet  sympathy  would  always  lean  to 
the  side  of  the  oppressed.  The  reading  of  Mrs. 
Stowe's  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "and  Helper's  volume 
on  slavery  kept  alive  the  excitement.  This  cul- 
minated in  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  The  Sunday 
when  the  news  arrived  the  whole  community  was  set 
ablaze.  Flags  were  hoisted,  groups  of  anxious  men 
assembled,  and  plans  and  possibilities  were  discussed. 
When  troops  were  ordered  from  West  Point,  and 
marched  across  the  East  Mountain  and  boarded  the 
train  with  their  cannon  at  Turners,  the  excitement 
reached  its  highest  pitch.  Then  men  enlisted  in  ear- 
nest.    Monroe  contributed  the  noblest  of  its  sons. 

This,  of  course,  enhsted  the  profoundest  love  of 
mothers  and  sisters.  One  mother  wished  she  had 
more  sons  to  give.  The  ladies  and  children  met  to 
work  in  aid  of  the  noble  organizations  which  were 


Love  of  Ltbertij  and  Patriotism.  183 

looking  after  the  welfare  of  the  brave  boys  in  the 
field.  The  school  children  scraped  hnt.  The  young 
people  met  and  peeled  fruit,  dried  and  baiTeled  it. 
Old  hnen  and  soft  flannel  were  contributed ;  in  short, 
everything  that  could  minister  to  the  sick  or  wounded. 
More  than  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  useful  articles 
were  sent.  And  when  the  slaves  began  to  come  in, 
after  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  published, 
supplies  were  sent  to  them ;  one  good  dame  begging 
the  outworn  glasses,  and  putting  them  in  the  cases 
as  helps  to  learn  to  read.  After  the  victory  at  Grettys- 
bui'g  there  was  a  wild  demonstration  on  the  street. 
The  Parrott  gun  which  the  patriotic  had  bought  by 
subscription  was  brought  out  and  hauled  along  the 
street,  one  of  the  prominent  citizens  mounting  it  amid 
wild  huzzas.  Afterwards  it  was  fired.  But  the  most 
satisfactory  demonstration  was  when  peace  was  pro- 
claimed. Then  the  whole  village  was  illuminated. 
The  event  was  celebrated  by  patriotic  sermons  and 
anthems  of  thanksgiving. 

The  recent  war  with  Spain  called  out  some  of  this 
latent  patriotism,  and  the  sympathies  of  the  best 
people  were  with  the  administration  in  the  endeavor 
to  deliver  the  Spanish  colonies  from  her  inhuman  and 
tyrannical  government.  Flags  were  displayed,  the 
national  colors  were  worn  by  the  citizens  of  the  place, 
and  the  greatest  enthusiasm  was  manifested  when 
news  of  the  illustrious  victories  of  our  army  and  navy 
arrived.  Monroe  was  represented  at  the  front  by  at 
least  one  volunteer  —  namely,  Henry  Brewster  Car- 
penter, son  of  Ethan  B.  Carpenter,  Jr.  He  was  a 
member  of  Company  F,  71st  New  York ;  he  returned 
from  Cuba,  and  died  of  fever  in  his  native  village, 
September  12,  1898. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES,  MILITAEY  AKD  CIVIC. 

AMONG  those  who  went  to  the  war  was  John  For- 
JTjl.  shee,  horn  November  20,  1836,  son  of  Barnard 
and  EUza  Forshee.  After  studying  medicine  and 
serving  as  surgeon  at  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  and 
on  the  Panama  Steamship  Line,  he  enhsted  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  was  appointed  assistant 
surgeon  of  the  66th  New  York,  and  then  surgeon 
in  the  11th  New  York,  with  the  rank  of  major. 
He  was  in  all  the  battles  of  the  Peninsula  under  Gen. 
McCleUan.  There,  amid  the  marshes  and  during  the 
forced  march,  he  was  taken  with  dysentery  and  came 
home  to  die.  Among  his  last  words  were  :  "  Who  is 
in  command  ?  "  He  died  November  25,  1862,  amid 
the  gentlest  of  ministries  from  a  loving  mother  and 
sisters.     "  After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well." 

Another  young  man  of  great  promise  who  went  to 
the  war  was  J.  Howard  Brooks.  He  was  the  second 
son  of  John  and  Sarah  Brooks.  After  his  brother  T. 
Benton  had  enlisted,  he  joined  him  in  the  field  with 
Serrell's  Topographical  Engineers,  operating  in  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky.  Afterwards  he  entered  the  ser- 
vice, and  was  with  a  company  of  sappers  and  miners 
at  Petersburg,  where  he  was  shot  while  on  the  in- 
trenchments.  He  died  a  few  hours  afterward,  dui'ing 
which  he  expressed  the  warmest  yearning  for  his  aged 

184 


Biographical  Sketches^  Military  and  Civic.      185 

father  and  mother  and  sister  at  home.  His  death 
occurred  August  9,  1864,  aged  twenty-four  years,  six 
months,  two  days. 

The  following  lines  are  selected  from  a  poem  full 
of  the  deepest  pathos,  penned  by  his  venerable  father : 

He  loved  his  dear  country,  and  prompt  at  her  calling 
He  laid  all  his  home  joys  and  fond  hopes  aside. 

He  sought  the  front  ranks,  and  there,  bravely  falling, 
A  patriot  brave  and  a  martyr  he  died. 

For  the  last  time  on  earth  on  that  manly  stature, 
On  that  comely  form  and  face,  we  have  gazed ; 

On  that  fair  ensemble,  and  that  noble  nature, 

Which  all  who  knew  him  and  all  who  saw,  praised. 

We  look  for  his  coming  when  past  the  cars  rattle  ; 

We  turn  with  fond  look  to  the  opening  door  j 
Alas !  he  comes  not,  he  has  fallen  in  battle. 

Except  in  our  dreams,  we  shall  see  him  no  more. 

Then  farewell  to  comfort  while  here  we  shall  languish ; 

My  hopes  all  lie  buried  with  him  that  has  died. 
My  lot  is  to  weep,  my  life  is  but  anguish, 

Until  I  find  rest  in  a  grave  by  his  side. 

A  neat  monument  was  erected  to  this  brave  young 
soldier,  a  number  of  patriotic  citizens  taking  this 
method  of  showing  their  sympathy  for  his  memory 
and  the  cause  in  which  he  fell.  On  the  occasion 
of  its  erection,  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher 
uttered  the  sentiment :  "  Great  cities  have  their  ar- 
chitectural piles  and  mausoleums,  but  the  true  mon- 
uments of  a  rural  community  are  her  brave  sons." 

Major  Thomas  Benton  Brooks  says :   "I  had  the 

good  fortune  to  be  born  in  Monroe,  N.  Y.  (June  19, 

1836),  and,  better  still,  to  be  the  son  of  Sarah  S. 

Ketchum  and  John  Brooks.    As  if  this  were  not  good 

24 


186        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

luck  enoTigli  for  one  person,  the  most  intimate  friend  of 
my  boyhood  was  my  cousin,  the  late  John  H.  Knight, 
whose  superior,  on  the  whole,  I  have  never  known." 
Benton  received  his  early  education  in  the  district 
school,  and  it  was  most  carefully  supplemented  at 
home.  His  first  matriculation  in  the  school  of  use- 
fulness was  in  assisting  his  father  on  his  farm  of  fif- 
teen acres.  He  describes  him  as  "an  old-fashioned 
farmer  of  small  means,  who  sometimes  gathered  his 
grain  with  a  sickle,  and  cleaned  it  with  the  wind."  At 
the  age  of  thirteen  he  drove  a  yoke  of  big  Devon  oxen 
hauling  sand,  lime  and  stones  for  the  "  Granite  House," 
which  was  erected  for  a  homestead  in  1849.  The  task 
which  particularly  tried  the  young  farmer  was  the 
picking  and  burying  of  small  stones  on  this  emphati- 
cally stony  farm.  He  also  assisted  his  father  in  the 
work  of  surveying,  and  exercised  his  ingenuity  in  in- 
venting an  instrument  for  the  measurement  of  angles. 
With  this  goniometer,  assisted  by  his  young  com- 
panions, he  triangulated  and  mapped  Knight's  mill- 
pond,  loving  it  better  than  any  other  sheet  of  water  he 
ever  knew  'twixt  the  Grolden  Gate  and  Golden  Horn. 
When  about  sixteen  years  of  age  he  taught  the  dis- 
trict school  in  Eagle  Yalley  for  three  months,  for  the 
marvellous  sum  of  ten  dollars,  "  boarding  round." 

About  this  time  the  surveying  party  of  a  proposed 
railroad  from  New  York  to  Oswego  came  up  the 
Ramapo  Valley,  which  he  joined  as  axeman.  After 
cutting  his  hand  so  badly  that  he  could  not  swing  the 
axe  he  was  promoted  to  be  chainman,  and  then  rod- 
man.  The  projected  road  having  fallen  through,  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  Erie  Company,  and  was 
first  leveller  and  then  transit-man  while  the  double 
track  was  being  constructed. 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     187 

From  this  he  stepped  to  the  position  of  assistant  to 
the  city  surveyor  of  Paterson,  N.  J.,  at  a  salary  of  sixty 
dollars  a  month.  About  1853  the  Topographical  and 
Geological  Surveys  of  New  Jersey  were  organized  un- 
der Dr.  Kitchell.  Mr.  Brooks  applied  for  a  position, 
but  was  offered  nothing  better  than  the  place  of  axe- 
man at  half  the  salary  he  was  getting. 

Though  advised  against  it,  he  accepted  the  position. 
It  was  part  of  his  duty  to  carry  the  heavy,  awkward 
plane-table  for  the  surveyor,  and  in  doing  this  he  had 
a  chance  to  learn  the  use  of  the  instrument  by  watch- 
ing the  work  closely.  Plane-tables  were  at  that  time 
scarcely  introduced  into  this  country,  and  were  used 
only  on  the  Coast  Survey,  and  there  chiefly  by  for- 
eigners. In  this  case  the  surveyor  was  an  Austrian 
who  was  so  dissipated  that  he  soon  became  unfit  to 
do  the  work.  Within  a  few  months  Mr.  Brooks  suc- 
ceeded him  as  topographer,  with  geological  duties,  at 
sixty-five  dollars  per  month,  and  retained  the  position 
until  the  work  so  injured  his  eyes  that  he  had  to  give 
it  up.  The  next  winter  found  him  in  Florida,  where 
he  obtained  work,  first  as  linear  land-surveyor,  and 
then  as  "  ordinary  seaman,"  pulhngan  oar  or  the  chain 
and  recording  observations  for  a  United  States  Coast 
Survey  party  working  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  He  be- 
lieved he  knew  more  about  the  use  of  the  plane-table 
than  did  the  chief  of  the  party,  who,  however,  did 
not  seem  to  think  so.  Confidence  in  his  own  ability 
to  "work  his  way  up"  always  marked  his  career. 

When  the  survey  was  finished  he  added  an  ex- 
perience to  his  life  of  which  he  often  speaks  as 
having  been  valuable  and  delightful.  He  shipped  as 
"  landsman  "  on  a  cotton-ship  and  "  worked  his  pas- 
sage" home.     There  "I  got   my  first  taste  of  salt 


188        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

water,"  he  says,  "  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  Jack 
Tar,  with  whom  I  have  been  on  good  terms  ever 
since." 

By  this  time  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
surveying  and  engineering  is  a  profession,  and  not  a 
trade  as  was  at  that  time  beheved  by  many.  He 
entered  the  then  recently  organized  School  of  En- 
gineering of  Union  College.  A  part  of  the  two  years' 
course  he  was  instructor  in  field-work,  and  graduated 
in  1858  as  civil  engineer,  taking  the  highest  marks. 
The  degree  of  M.  A.  was  conferred  upon  him  a  few 
years  later.  It  was  the  wish  of  his  friend  and  pre- 
ceptor. Professor  Grillespie,  that  Mr.  Brooks  should 
succeed  him  as  head  of  the  Engineering  Department 
of  Union  College ;  and  had  Mr.  Brooks  been  willing, 
he  could  undoubtedly  have  had  the  position. 

Diu'ing  his  college  vacations  he  made  a  topographi- 
cal survey  of  the  "Augusta  tract,"  owned  by  the 
Lorillards  and  now  the  site  of  Tuxedo  Park.  He 
was  assisted  by  his  brother  John  Howard  and  his 
cousin  Fletcher  B.  Brooks.  This  was  followed  by 
surveys  of  the  great  Stirling  estate,  and  later  by  that 
of  the  large  mountain  iron  and  forest  properties  then 
known  as  the  Greenwood  and  Ramapo,  and  others  ex- 
tending along  the  Ramapo  Valley  from  Monroe  to 
Suffern,  and  from  Greenwood  Lake  to  near  the  Hud- 
son River.  During  this  period  he  spent  a  winter 
(1858-59)  in  Philadelphia,  attending  lectures  at  the 
embryo  School  of  Mines  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  received  his  strong  bent  for  the 
study  of  rocks  imder  the  instruction  of  the  poet-geol- 
ogist Prof.  J.  Peter  Lesley,  teacher  and  founder  of 
Topographical  Geology.  This  brings  us  to  the  period 
of  the  War  of  the  Rebelhon. 


Biographical  Sketches^  Military  and  Civic.     189 

After  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run  lie  resolved 
to  enlist,  and  did  so  as  private  in  the  1st  New  York 
Volunteer  Regiment  of  Engineers,  Company  A.  He 
recruited  a  part  of  his  own  company  in  the  mountains 
where  he  was  best  known,  and  from  the  number  of 
those  with  whom  his  professional  work  had  acquainted 
him,  and  excellent  soldiers  they  were. 

The  records  of  the  New  York  Commandery  of  the 
Loyal  Legion,  of  which  he  is  a  companion,  summa- 
rize his  services  thus : 

Brevet-Col.  Thomas  Benton  Brooks,  U.  S.  Y.,  was 
mustered  into  the  service  as  1st  Lieutenant,  Com- 
pany A,  of  1st  New  York  Volunteer  Engineers  (Col. 
Serrell's),  September  10, 1861.  Promoted  to  Captain, 
and  later  Aide-de-camp,  with  rank  of  Major,  August 
17, 1863;  resigned  October  6, 1864.  Brevetted  Lieut.- 
Col.  U.  S.  Volunteer  Engineers,  March  13,  1865,  for 
"  distinguished  services  at  the  siege  of  Fort  Pulaski, 
Georgia";  Brevet-Col.  for  "  gallant  conduct  during  the 
operations  against  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  meritorious 
services  during  the  war."  He  had  part  in  Dupont's 
expedition  against  Fort  Royal,  S.  C.  Served  most  of 
the  war  on  the  staff  of  Major-Gen.  Q.  A.  Gillmore, 
including  operations  on  Folly  and  Morris  Islands, 
S.  C. ;  was  assistant  engineer  in  the  siege  of  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  and  reduction  of  Fort  Wagner;  served 
temporarily  on  the  staff  of  Major-Gen.  B.  F.  Butler, 
and  was  wounded  at  Drury's  Bluff,  Va.,  May,  1864. 
He  was  on  cavalry  duty  with  Gen.  Gillmore  against 
Confederate  Gens.  Morgan  and  Duke  in  Kentucky ; 
served  as  topographical  engineer  temporarily  on  the 
staff  of  Major-Gen.  S.  C.  Carter  in  East  Tennessee, 
also  that  of  Major-Gen.  A.  E.  Burnside.  After  the 
capture  of  Fort  Wagner,  S.  C,  he  received  the  Sum- 


190       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

ter  medal.  His  reports  are  embodied  in  Gillmore's 
"  Siege  of  Fort  Pulaski  and  Siege  of  Charleston." 

"  He  is  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  cases,  of  which 
there  were  so  many,  of  extraordinary  military  capacity 
suddenly  developed  in  young  men  whose  training 
had  heretofore  been  exclusively  in  civil  pursuits." 
(John  Hay,  "  Life  of  Lincoln,"  Vol.  YII,  p.  483.) 
Gren.  Peter  S.  Michie,  of  West  Point,  in  an  address  to 
the  "  Veteran  Association  of  the  Department  of  the 
South,"  says  of  him  (see  Brooklyn  Proceedings,  1893, 
p.  27)  : 

"  Unquestionably  the  central  engineer  in  the  siege 
of  Fort  Wagner,  defending  Charleston,  is  our  gallant 
comrade  Col.  Brooks.  Ordinary  language  cannot  do 
justice  to  his  self-sacrificing  devotion  in  the  dan- 
gerous and  difficult  service  to  which  he  was  assigned, 
nor  to  the  full  measure  of  his  manhood  in  its  success- 
ful performance.  Endowed  with  an  active  mind  and 
extraordinary  energy,  with  vigorous  physical  powers, 
these  were  continually  drawn  upon  until  he  had  almost 
reached  the  limit  of  human  endurance.  He  was  a 
most  indefatigable  worker,  peculiarly  fertile  in  ex- 
pedients and  in  emergencies,  indifferent  to  personal 
danger  when  duty  demanded  it,  and  in  every  respect 
an  inspiration  to  the  whole  command." 

While  serving  at  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  his  only 
brother,  Lieut.  John  Howard  Brooks,  also  of  the  New 
York  Volunteer  Engineers,  fell  while  on  duty  in  the 
trenches  August  9,  1864.  He  was  a  gallant,  accom- 
plished young  officer  who  would  have  risen  to  distinc- 
tion in  the  army  or  in  civil  life.  After  this  event,  at 
the  request  of  his  parents.  Col.  Brooks  resigned  and  re- 
sumed the  practice  of  his  profession.  His  first  work 
was  on  the  Geological  Survey  of  New  Jersey,  this 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     191 

time  -under  liis  valued  friend  Prof.  Cook.  While  at 
work  in  the  iron  regions  about  Ringwood  he  became 
acquainted  with  Abram  S.  Hewitt,  Peter  Cooper  and 
his  son  Edward,  who  owned  the  Ringwood  estate. 
Through  these  gentlemen  he  was  offered  a  position 
with  the  Trenton  Iron  Company,  and  had  for  a  time 
general  charge  of  the  iron  mines,  acting  also  as  pay- 
master. About  this  time  he  filled  for  a  short  time  a 
similar  position  with  the  Grreenwood  Iron  Company, 
under  its  late  owner,  Peter  P.  Parrott.  He  laid  out 
the  "new  road"  from  the  O'Neal  mine  to  Greenwood 
furnace.  Messrs.  Cooper  and  Hewitt  induced  him  to 
go  to  the  iron  regions  of  Lake  Superior  in  the 
interests  of  the  Iron  Cliff  Company,  which  owned  a 
vast  property  near  Marquette,  Mich.,  with  head- 
quarters at  Negaunee.  The  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Tilden 
was  president  of  the  company.  Col.  Brooks  was 
made  vice-president  and  manager.  He  remained 
three  years  with  this  company,  surveying,  buying, 
building  and  running  charcoal  furnaces  and  opening 
mines. 

He  married,  January,  1867,  his  schoolmate  Hannah 
Hulse,  daughter  of  Albert  P.  Hulse  and  Harriet  Tut- 
hill.  Their  children  were  Howard  (died  at  Munich, 
Germany) ;  Stella,  wife  of  Rufus  S.  Woodward;  Alfred, 
assistant  geologist  on  the  United  States  Survey,  now 
(1897)  on  leave  of  absence  to  attend  the  International 
Geological  Congress  in  Russia;  Hildegard,  born  in 
Dresden,  reclaimed  for  her  country  by  the  Union  flag 
which  was  hung  over  her  cradle  ;  and  Mary  Potter. 

He  now  entered  on  private  work  as  prospector  and 
mining  engineer.  Soon  after  he  took  charge  of  the 
Economic  State  Survey  in  the  iron  region  of  the 
Upper  Peninsula  of  Michigan. 


192       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

In  1873  he  took  his  family  abroad  for  several  years. 
Though  broken  in  health,  he  took  much  unfinished 
State  work  with  him.  In  London  and  Dresden  he 
completed  his  reports  on  the  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
iron  regions,  returning  several  times  to  America  on 
professional  duties.  Fred.  J.  Knight  was  with  him  in 
the  field  and  in  Dresden,  assisting  him  in  topographi- 
cal, magnetic,  and  geological  work.  At  this  time  he 
was  made  a  fellow  of  the  Gleological  Society  of  Lon- 
don, and  corresponding  member  of  the  Geological  So- 
ciety of  Edinburgh. 

In  1876  he  brought  his  family  to  Monroe  for  a 
winter,  and  then  moved  to  Balmville,  north  of  New- 
burg,  New  York,  where  he  bought  "Glen  Hathaway" 
on  the  Hudson.  He  said  of  the  place :  "It  is  a  httle 
Cosmos.  I  have  never  seen  another  seventeen  acres 
with  more  varied  attractions." 

When  his  wife's  serious  illness  and  his  own  failing 
health  no  longer  permitted  him  to  continue  his  pro- 
fessional duties,  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming. 
He  bought  Oak  Grove  Farm  in  New  Windsor,  and 
moved  there  in  1883,  soon  after  the  death  of  his  wife. 
When  he  became  obliged  to  spend  the  winters  in  the 
South  for  his  health,  he  interested  himself  in  stock- 
raising  in  southwest  Georgia.  With  his  friend  and 
business  associate.  Professor  Pumpelly,  he  bought,  or, 
rather,  built  up,  by  several  purchases,  Roseland  plan- 
tation, eight  and  one  half  square  miles,  in  Decatur 
County,  Georgia.  Their  idea  that  the  best  use  to 
make  of  the  worn-out  cotton  and  forest  lands  of  the 
South  is  to  turn  them  into  pasture  was  at  that  time 
a  new  one.  He  still  finds  log-cabin  life  in  the  Piney 
Woods  healthful,  delightful,  and  economical,  charac- 
terized as  it  is  by  the  pleasure  of  riding  and  driving. 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     193 

by  the  cheer  of  the  sunny  chmate,  and  of  the  "  light- 
wood  "  fires  on  the  hearth. 

In  1887  he  married  Miss  Martha  Giesler,  a  Prussian 
lady,  and  in  1889  the  whole  family  went  abroad  for 
two  years,  for  the  education  of  the  children.  The 
major,  being  a  true  Cincinnatus,  takes  time  to  write 
articles  for  the  pubhc  journals,  giving  the  world  the 
benefit  of  his  scientific  and  practical  observations  and 
experiences  through  a  life  of  varied  and  remarkable 
activity.  Had  he  not  broken  down  in  health  before 
middle  age,  he  might  have  achieved  great  things. 

Benjamin  W.  Thompson  was  the  second  son  of  the 
Rev.  John  J.  Thompson,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  Monroe,  New  York.  He  was  born  in 
Middletown,  New  York,  in  1833.  After  school-days 
he  entered  the  employ  of  his  brother-in-law,  Mr. 
Chauncey  B.  Knight.  His  health  failing,  he  went  to 
Florida,  and  engaged  as  tutor  in  the  family  of  Col. 
P.  L.  Dancy,  State  Engineer,  residing  on  his  planta- 
tion at  Orange  Mills,  on  the  St.  John's  River.  Here 
he  remained  one  year,  when,  his  health  having  been 
restored  by  the  soft  air  and  out-of-door  exercise,  he 
removed  to  Jacksonville  in  the  same  State,  and  en- 
tered the  store  of  Mr.  Little  as  clerk.  In  August, 
1856,  when  the  yellow  fever  broke  out  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  people  fled,  he,  with  a  number 
of  other  devoted  young  men,  offered  his  services  to 
the  alcalde  of  the  city  to  nurse  the  sick.  He  re- 
mained on  duty  at  Camp  Detention  until  the  plague 
subsided.  A  vacancy  occurring  in  the  branch  house 
at  Pernandina,  Plorida,  Mr.  Thompson  was  chosen  to 
fill  it ;  but,  pending  the  negotiations,  he  discovered 
that  the  firm  included  the  sale  of  liquor  in  their 
business.  To  this  his  conscience  would  not  allow  his 
25 


194        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

consent.  When  they  yielded  to  his  conscientious 
scruples,  dropping  both  the  sale  of  liquor  and  Sunday 
traffic,  he  entered  the  firro,  and  did  a  flourishing  busi- 
ness under  the  style  of  Elhs,  Macdonough  and 
Thompson. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Thompson  became  interested 
in  the  building  of  a  Presbyterian  church  at  Fer- 
nandina,  of  which  he  was  chosen  elder  and  Sunday- 
school  superintendent.  His  sister,  Miss  Caroline 
Thompson,  came  South,  and  while  engaged  in  teach- 
ing became  his  companion  and  most  efficient  co- 
laborer. 

His  health  becoming  impaired,  he  resigned  his 
business  and  rested  awhile ;  but  as  soon  as  his 
strength  would  admit,  he  started  business  again  with 
J.  D.  Gould,  of  Delhi,  New  York,  in  Fernandina. 

In  January,  1861,  the  legislature  passed  the  Or- 
dinance of  Secession,  when  a  new  epoch  commenced 
in  the  hfe  of  Mr.  Thompson  and  his  sister.  At  once 
active  military  operations  were  begun.  Every  able- 
bodied  man  over  nineteen  years  of  age  was  required 
to  report  for  daily  drill,  unless  enrolled  in  some  mih- 
tary  company.  As  the  latter  seemed  to  offer  less 
annoyance,  he,  with  other  Northern  men,  joined  such 
a  company.  But  he  soon  discovered  he  had  fallen 
into  a  trap ;  for  the  order  was  pubhshed  that  such 
companies  must  enter  the  service  of  the  State,  under 
penalty  of  confiscation  of  goods.  Now  came  the 
crisis.  A  reign  of  terror  prevailed  after  the  fall  of 
Sumter,  which  made  it  expedient  for  Northern  peo- 
ple to  flee.  Mr.  Thompson  disposed  of  his  goods,  and 
with  his  sister  and  several  others  ran  the  gauntlet 
amid  great  perils,  reaching  the  Northern  hues  in 
safety.     He  now  went  to  Port  Byron,  New  York, 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     195 

where  his  brother  Howard  resided,  and  there  piir- 
chased  the  "  Port  Byron  Gazette,"  which  he  edited 
with  success  till  he  felt  it  was  his  duty  to  enter  the 
service  of  the  country  whose  cause  he  pleaded  so 
earnestly.  In  ten  days  he  recruited  a  full  company, 
and  was  chosen  its  captain.  This  was  Company  F 
of  the  111th  New  York.  His  regiment  was  ordered 
to  Harper's  Ferry,  where,  after  a  short  engagement, 
the  whole  command  was  surrendered  by  Glen.  Miles, 
pending  which,  the  general  was  shot.  Captain  Thomp- 
son was  sent  with  these  troops  to  Chicago,  to  be  held 
until  exchanged.  When  this  exchange  was  effected 
they  were  armed  anew  and  shipped  to  Annapolis, 
where  his  command  was  joined  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  When  General  Lee  invaded  Pennsylvania, 
June,  1863,  Captain  Thompson  made  that  memorable 
forced  march  to  Gettysburg,  during  which  so  many 
brave  boys  succumbed  to  fatigue.  Such  a  march 
puts  every  military  virtue  to  the  test.  Captain 
Thompson  fell  out,  after  a  day's  march  of  thirty-three 
miles ;  but  on  the  eve  of  the  1st  of  July  he  reported 
for  duty,  and  took  his  position  at  the  head  of  his 
company,  now  drawn  up  at  the  foot  of  Seminary 
Hill,  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania.  Here  they  re- 
ceived the  fire  of  the  rebels  under  General  Lee,  and 
Captain  Thompson  described  it  as  a  keen  blade  of 
flame  sweeping  the  entire  crest  of  the  hill  above 
them.  A  shell  exploded  against  the  very  rock  behind 
which  his  men  were  lying  down,  wounding  him  se- 
verely. Yet  he  fought  through  the  entire  battle  from 
exposed  positions,  and  with  no  other  rations  than 
such  as  could  be  obtained  from  the  haversacks  of 
dead  rebels. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  he  could  muster  but  ten 


196       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time, 

able-bodied  men,  and  bis  own  feet  were  so  swollen 
tbat  be  bad  to  go  into  bospital  for  treatment.  As 
soon  as  recovered,  be  reported  again  for  duty.  He 
was  now  promoted  to  tbe  rank  of  major.  At  bis  own 
request,  be  was  appointed  to  tbe  command  of  tbe  32d 
United  States  colored  troops.  His  regiment  was  or- 
dered to  Cbarleston,  wbere  it  was  located  at  Hilton 
Head.  Here  be  met  tbe  lady.  Miss  Adeltba  Twitcbell, 
wbo  was  engaged  in  teacbing,  wbom  be  afterward 
married. 

Major  Tbompson  was  soon  promoted  to  tbe  post 
and  rank  of  provost-marsbal  at  Hilton  Head,  and 
tbereafter  provost-marsbal-general  of  tbe  Depart- 
ment of  tbe  Soutb,  by  General  Gillmore.  He  was 
made  also  flag-of -truce  officer,  witb  tbe  rank  of 
lieutenant-colonel.  Tbis  important  position  brougbt 
under  bis  control  many  Confederate  officers  and  civil 
officials  of  bigb  rank,  governors,  and  even  Jefferson 
Davis  bimself.  Prisoners,  rebel  and  Union,  were  at 
bis  disposal.  He  organized  tbe  expedition  sent  to 
meet  tbe  prisoners  liberated  from  Andersonville,  wbo 
were  marcbing,  or,  ratber,  dragging  tbemselves,  to- 
ward Jacksonville.  He  sent  out  a  train-load  of  sup- 
plies to  meet  tbem,  and  wben  met,  according  to  bis 
description,  tbey  were  tbe  most  forlorn  crowd  tbat 
civilized  warfare  ever  witnessed :  baggard,  starved, 
diseased,  covered  witb  vermin,  gaunt,  witb  staring 
eyes  as  of  famisbed  beasts  ratber  tban  men.  Many 
died  before  tbe  train  met  tbem,  and  otbers  before  tbey 
could  be  conveyed  to  a  place  of  comfort.  We  need 
not  say  witb  wbat  assiduous  attention,  sympatby,  and 
care  Colonel  Tbompson  ministered  to  tbem.  He  was 
tempted  to  try  a  little  of  military  irony  upon  Jefferson 
Davis  and  otber  rebel  leaders  by  putting  tbem  for  a 


Biographical  Sketches^  Military  and  Civic.     197 

while  on  hardtack,  that  they  might  taste  some  of  the 
rigor  to  which  many  a  brave  Union  soldier  was  sub- 
jected. 

In  the  summer  of  1865  his  regiment  was  mustered 
out  of  service,  when  he  retked  to  private  life.  He 
removed  to  Williamsport,  Pennsylvania,  and  there 
married  Miss  Twitchell,  whom  he  had  met  while  in 
command  at  Charleston.  He  had  charge  of  Dodge's 
Mills  for  a  time,  then  became  cashier  of  the  bank- 
ing-house of  Taylor,  Weed  and  Co.  He  was  also 
secretary  of  the  Fire  Insurance  Company.  He  was 
appointed  Indian  agent  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment, during  which  he  endeavored  to  correct  some 
of  those  abuses  which  Greneral  Grant  so  strongly 
condemned.  But  when  a  Democratic  administration 
came  in,  he  was  superseded  by  a  political  appointee. 
He  has  since  been  engaged  in  commercial  business  in 
Minneapolis,  and  in  an  enterprise  having  as  its  object 
the  redemption  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  one  of  the 
Northwestern  States,  by  turning  the  stream  of  a  river 
over  the  barren  tract. 

Alfred  Preston  Hulse  was  the  son  of  Jesse  Hulse, 
of  Blooming  Grove,  where  he  was  born  February  4, 
1805.  He  was  sent  to  the  country  district-school, 
which  in  those  days  was  very  primitive.  Its  text- 
books were  Daboll's  "  Arithmetic,"  Murray's  "  Gram- 
mar," and  the  "English  Reader."  Yet  these,  well 
instilled,  have  laid  the  foundation  of  many  a  scholar 
and  noble  character.  Daniel  Webster  had  httle  be- 
yond these  and  "Poor  Richard's  Almanack"  with 
which  to  start  upon  his  intellectual  life.  But  a  few 
simple  tools  such  as  a  jackknife  do  wonders  in  the 
hand  of  a  boy  of  brains,  and  that  was  what  young 
Hulse  must  have  been.     He  certainly  knew  how  to 


198        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

make  good  use  of  tlie  few  educational  tools  placed  in 
Ms  hands,  often  sometimes  better  than  a  fortune. 
He  soon  graduated  from  the  oaken  bench  and  carved 
desk  to  the  plow  and  team.  This  continued  his  edu- 
cation along  practical  lines,  and  fortified  him  with 
good  health.  He  early  married  Harriet  Tuthill  of  the 
same  town,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  old  Puritan 
elder  Brewster.  When  they  united  their  fortunes  to 
fight  the  battle  of  hfe,  his  father  insisted  they  should 
settle  on  the  ancestral  farm.  But  the  ambitious 
young  man  disdained  to  depend  upon  other  human 
arm  than  his  own.  Looking  beyond  his  own  beauti- 
ful valley,  he  saw  there  was  good  land  in  the  Clove, 
and  at  once  resolved  to  go  thither.  His  father,  in- 
dignant, said :  "  Well,  go  there,  then,  and  eat  rye 
bread  the  rest  of  your  days."  They  went,  and,  pur- 
chasing the  farm  between  Monroe  and  Turners,  known 
as  the  Archer  farm,  there  they  hung  the  crane,  and 
reared  their  family  of  two  boys  and  four  girls.  Mr. 
Hulse  was  endowed  with  a  mind  of  remarkable 
power,  quick  in  penetration,  inchned  to  rapid  gen- 
eralization and  deduction  of  principles  and  axioms, 
which  he  enunciated  with  Emersonian  terseness.  He 
was  an  inexhaustible  reader,  purchasing  new  books 
on  his  favorite  topics  regardless  of  cost ;  and  during 
his  noon  spells  would  lie  on  the  floor,  drinking  from 
such  artesian  wells  as  Comte's  "  Positive  Philoso- 
phy" or  Carlyle's  "Hero  Worship."  He  was  impa- 
tient of  authority  and  established  faiths ;  he  sought 
to  investigate  for  himself  and  formulate  his  own  faith 
and  philosophy.  This  naturally  threw  him  into  an- 
tagonism with  conservative  minds ;  but  he  was  a  gen- 
erous debater,  a  good  neighbor,  a  patriotic  citizen,  loyal 
to  his  country  in  its  struggles,  faithful,  accounting 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     199 

for  his  personal  property  when  the  government  had 
need  of  funds.  He  was  one  of  Monroe's  representa- 
tive men.  His  home,  plain  in  its  furnishings,  was 
one  of  unusual  attraction  for  the  brightness  of  its 
conversation,  its  overflowing  good  humor,  and  un- 
bounded hospitality.  Mrs.  Hulse  was  always  ready 
with  her  kindly  offices  where  there  was  sickness  or 
want ;  and  was  that  good  housekeeper  whose  bread 
had  the  reputation  of  being  always  light,  to  whom  a 
neighbor  said  :  "  With  what  do  you  mix  your  bread?" 
She  replied  :  "  I  always  mix  it  with  judgment."  Mr. 
Hulse  died  February  26,  1887,  and  Mrs.  Hulse,  De- 
cember 27,  1884. 

John  H.  Knight  was  born  on  the  old  homestead 
November  23,  1827.  He  was  the  son  of  Daniel  C. 
Knight  and  Catherine  Brooks.  From  his  earliest 
boyhood  he  was  remarkable  for  a  thirst  for  know- 
ledge, and  stands  as  an  example  of  that  sort  of  genius 
which  consists  in  application.  He  did  not  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  what  is  termed  a  liberal  education,  but 
was  sent  to  the  common  school  of  the  district  in 
which  he  always  lived.  In  the  words  of  a  friend : 
"  Long  before  he  arrived  at  manhood  he  had  read 
every  book  of  travels,  biography,  natural  history, 
fiction,  and  science  that  was  in  the  old  district-school 
hbrary,  and  many  others  of  hke  character,  which  he 
obtained  from  other  som'ces."  He  considered  his 
own  native  town  a  field  worthy  of  his  study,  spending 
many  leisure  hours  in  investigating  its  fauna  and 
flora  till  he  became  an  authority  on  such  subjects. 
He  was  an  original  investigator,  disdaining  authorities, 
preferring  to  gather  the  data  himself,  and  draw  his 
own  conclusions  on  every  subject  to  which  he  turned 
his  attention.    But  while  clear  and  decided  in  his  own 


200        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

convictions,  lie  was  modest  in  their  annunciation, 
always  manifesting  a  spirit  of  charity  and  hberality 
toward  those  of  others.  He  was  an  ideal  agriculturist? 
enthusiastic  in  his  vocation,  practical,  bringing  all  his 
energies  to  bear  to  make  it  honorable  and  get  from  it 
the  best  results.  After  bringing  the  home  farm  to  a 
high  degree  of  productiveness,  he  took  up  other  pieces 
of  land  in  the  vicinage,  and  made  gardens  of  them. 
This  gave  employment  to  large  numbers  of  field- 
hands,  whom  he  paid  hberally,  and  from  whom  he 
exacted  no  more  than  was  just.  Their  tears  to-day 
bespeak  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held.  His  sin- 
gular success  along  these  lines  led  to  his  selection  to 
take  charge  of  the  model  farm  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  under  the  care  of  Rutgers  College,  situated 
near  New  Brunswick,  from  1865  to  1868.  Here,  with 
Professor  Cook  hstening  to  his  suggestions,  he  was 
able  to  make  experiments  with  manures,  soils,  seeds, 
and  implements  on  a  hberal  scale,  and  furnish  data  of 
scientific  value,  not  merely  for  himself,  but  for  every 
farmer  throughout  the  country.  This  appointment 
did  not  unfit  him  for  the  quiet  or  the  thrift  of  the 
home  agriculture  upon  his  return  to  Monroe,  for  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  development  of  the  ideal 
milch  cow,  which  he  believed  he  found  in  his  beauti- 
ful Netherland,  or  belted,  stock.  Throughout  his  life 
he  was  always  studious  of  what  would  promote  the 
best  interests  of  his  fellow-men,  unselfish  to  a  fault. 
He  was  genial  and  bright,  a  good  conversationalist, 
a  man  of  sound  judgment,  of  strict  integrity,  tem- 
perate, and  always  on  the  side  of  good  morals.  He 
was  married  February  13, 1861,  to  Millicent,  daughter 
of  Weeks  Seely,  of  Oxford,  New  York.  He  was 
brother  of  Chauncey  B.  Knight  and  of  Mrs.  J.  Henry 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     201 

Bertholf.  He  died  March  3,  1883,  lamented  by  all 
who  knew  him,  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  whole  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived,  as  well  as  to  the  farming 
interest  he  so  well  represented. 

From  local  causes,  such  as  bold  mountain  scenery, 
with  noble  landscapes,  wide  fields  for  enterprise  and 
skill,  and,  still  further,  with  such  a  grand  history  of 
men  and  events  forming  the  background,  it  does  not 
surprise  us  that  Monroe  should  have  been  the  home 
of  no  httle  varied  talent.  It  has  had  farmers  and 
gardeners  and  dairymen,  who  were  on  the  alert  for 
every  improvement  in  their  vocation.  Were  there 
better  seed,  feed,  or  appliances,  tools  or  machinery, 
there  were  those  always  ready  to  adopt  them.  John 
K.  Roe  and  Alfred  P.  Hulse  were  the  first  to  intro- 
duce the  mowing-machine.  Monroe  was  early  in 
the  field  to  adopt  the  plan  of  soiling  and  of  storing 
ensilage.  The  Paterson  brothers  were  the  leaders 
in  the  last  improvement.  Horse-forks  and  elevators 
to  unload  hay  had  early  advocates,  while  model  barns 
and  stables  have  been  the  outgrowth  of  no  httle  dis- 
cussion and  experiment.  Monroe  has  had  its  inven- 
tors and  original  investigators.  J.  Milton  Bull  was 
the  first  to  suggest  the  milk  business.  Benjamin  Bull 
invented  the  platform  scale  and  cutting-box.  David 
Mapes  invented,  as  he  thought,  a  perpetual  motion 
which  was  ingenious,  but  lacked  continuance.  John 
Jenkins  found  a  new  mineral  among  our  hills,  and 
named  it  Monroeite.  He  also  discovered  the  use  of 
calc-spar  for  lamp-stands  and  other  ornaments. 
Bailey  Cooley  was  sanguine  over  the  supposed  discov- 
ery of  coal.  A  trace  was  found,  but  not  enough  to 
claim  the  State  premium.  Carving  a  ham  suggested 
to  John  Boyce  the  imitation  of  the  femoral  socket  in 
26 


202       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

the  construction  of  a  shaft-clip.  John  Miller  in- 
vented the  automatic  coupler,  and  constructed  a  huh- 
borer  and  a  hand  sawmill.  Charles  Clinton  invented 
a  movable  cork  for  horseshoes,  and  a  cannon  com- 
posed of  hoops  and  staves,  also  a  shell  and  steam-en- 
gine ;  A.  B.  Hulse,  a  safety  railway  frog  for  switches ; 
John  Bouton,  a  self-locking  window-fastener.  But 
even  where  there  was  no  original  inventive  genius, 
Monroe  has  been  rich  in  sound  practical  talent  among 
her  mechanics,  merchants,  and  artisans. 

Professional  artists  she  does  not  boast,  but  some 
choice  amateurs  have  graced  her  annals.  Poetry  is 
one  of  the  arts  that  flourish  on  such  a  rocky  soil. 
Painting  and  sculpture  wait  for  a  more  advanced 
civilization.  Poetry  is  indigenous  to  virgin  soils  and 
mountainous  regions.  David  drew  additional  inspira- 
tion from  the  hills  of  Bethlehem  and  the  mountains 
round  about  Jerusalem.  Homer  was  the  blind  poet 
of  Scio's  rocky  isle.  Burns  and  Scott  were  under  the 
spell  of  snow-clad  Ben  Nevis  and  the  crags  of  lofty 
Ben  Lomond.  Joseph  Rodman  Drake  composed  his 
"Culprit  Fay"  hastily  one  summer  day,  amid  the 
Highlands  of  the  Hudson.  We  are  not  surprised  that 
Monroe,  therefore,  should  have  those  who,  having 
tasted  of  Clove  water  and  bathed  in  old  Mombasha, 
should  plume  their  wings  and  try  the  flights  of  poetry. 
Ebenezer  Earl  sometimes  wrote  verses.  We  recol- 
lect one  political  satire. 

Mr.  WiUiam  Van  Duzer,  the  son  of  Samuel  and 
Ursula  Van  Duzer,  was  born  in  Monroe,  and  spent  his 
early  years  here ;  but  most  of  his  life  was  spent  in 
New  York  City,  or  at  the  Capitol,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  one  of  the  departments  of  the  Federal  government. 
He  found  leisure  to  write  at  least  one  poem,  which  is 


Biographical  Sketches^  Military  and  Civic.     203 

full  of  pathos  and  sentiment.  It  seems  to  have  been 
written  at  different  periods  of  his  hfe,  which  it  di- 
vides up  into  twelfths :  twice  six,  three  times  six,  till 
twelve  times  six  is  reached,  which  probably  closed 
his  life  and  song.  He  was  characterized  by  urbanity 
and  a  fund  of  humor.  His  memory  was  well  stored 
with  reminiscences  of  the  olden  times  in  Monroe. 

Miss  Kate  Arnell  was  much  beloved  as  a  writer  of 
occasional  verses,  which  were  held  in  high  esteem,  as 
she  also  was,  among  the  generation  gone  by. 

John  Lamont,  father  of  Charles  Lamont,  Esq.,  and 
grandfather  of  Fred.  Lamont,  supervisor  of  Monroe 
for  many  years,  had  a  portfolio  full  of  verses  which 
had  the  ring  of  the  heather  and  braes  of  the  home  of 
Burns  and  Scott.  One  of  his,  entitled  "  All  Things 
are  Falling,"  was  full  of  deep  philosophy  and  solemn 
truth. 

Among  the  most  prominent  of  the  older  literati  of 
Monroe  was  Mr.  John  Brooks.  His  father  emigrated 
from  Blagg's  Clove  and  settled  in  the  village  of  Mon- 
roe, where  he  made  weavers'  shuttles  of  apple-tree 
wood. 

John  was  born  in  1784.  He  went  to  school  at  the 
log  school-house  kept  by  McManus  near  the  old 
Presbyterian  church  at  Seamanville.  Afterwards  he 
taught  in  the  stone  school-house  above  the  village. 
He  was  appointed  one  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  by 
Grovernor  De  Witt  Clinton  in  1819,  and  the  name  of 
8.  S.  Seward  is  attached  to  his  commission.  He  was 
storekeeper  for  the  Stirhng  Iron  Company  in  1832. 
He  was  sent  to  represent  Orange  County  in  the  sixty- 
eighth  session  of  the  New  York  Assembly  at  Albany, 
which  commenced  January  7,  1845. 

He  belonged  to  the  liberal  wing  of  the  Democratic 


204        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

party,  and  claimed  that  he  had  his  political  creed 
straight  from  Thomas  Jefferson.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  the  debates  of  that  legislative  body.  An  im- 
portant measure  was  the  amendment  of  the  State 
constitution,  toward  the  adoption  of  which  he  con- 
tributed an  influential  part.  After  his  return  he  built 
the  Granite  House,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  farming,  surveying  and  reading  until  his 
death.  He  was  a  man  of  varied  gifts,  thrifty,  honest, 
industrious  and  hard-working.  He  was  well  read  in 
books,  but  was  well  acquainted  with  nature  and  men. 
He  was  a  good  debater  and  an  interesting  conversa- 
tionalist, his  utterances  being  the  fruit  of  long  years 
of  observation  and  experience  in  different  walks  of 
life.  He  was  an  ardent  patriot  and  lover  of  liberty, 
giving  two  of  his  sons  to  the  cause  of  his  country. 
On  his  death-bed  he  expressed  his  desire  to  live  only 
that  he  might  see  constitutional  government  estab- 
lished throughout  the  world. 

The  loss  of  his  younger  son  in  battle  at  the  siege 
of  Richmond  much  impaired  his  vigor  of  body  and 
mind.  He  died  November  17,  1871,  in  the  eighty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age. 

We  have  already  quoted  one  or  two  of  his  poems. 
We  will  now  add  another,  more  modern  than  they, 
but  no  less  crisp  and  epigrammatic.  It  was  written 
at  Escanaba,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  son  Benton,  who 
was  employed  as  overseer  at  the  iron-works  at  that 
place. 

"  We  have  plenty  of  books  on  all  art  and  science, 
From  pigmies  and  punsters  quite  up  to  giants 
Who  think  they  have  found  all  nature's  reasons, 
Uncaring  how  guilty  they  might  be  of  treasons, 
Or  change  in  indestructible  forces, 


Biographical  Sketches^  Military  and  Civic.     205 

Tracing  her  out  through  all  her  dim  courses; 
Which  forces,  like  matter  with  which  they  unite, 
May  change  ad  infinitum^  themselves  infinite ; 
That  all  the  imponderables  of  earth,  air  and  ocean 
Are  found  out  at  last  to  be  nothing  but  motion ; 
That  they  are  covenanted  one  to  another, 
And  may  be  transmuted  each  into  other. 

They  chop  metaphysics  in  so  learned  a  way, 
You  cannot  understand  one  half  that  they  say — 
'Tis  doubtful,  I  think,  if  even  do  they." 

—  ESCANABA. 


The  rest  of  the  poem  is  of  pohtical  cast,  referring 
to  the  exciting  questions  of  the  day,  and  would  not 
interest. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Brooks,  his  wife,  was  no  less  remark- 
ahle  as  a  woman  and  mother.  While  busy  with 
her  housekeeping  she  took  charge  of  the  education  of 
her  children,  having  them  read  and  study  beside  her, 
while  her  deft  hands  were  busy  with  needle  and 
bread-tray.  She  was  a  careful  reader,  alive  to  all  the 
questions  of  the  day,  and  knew  how  to  impart  what 
she  read  to  her  children.  She  was  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  industrious, 
energetic,  patriotic.  When  she  had  lost  a  son  in  the 
service  of  his  country,  she  wished  she  had  more  sons 
to  give  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 

Monroe  had  other  prominent  men  in  the  past 
whose  names  are  worthy  of  mention,  such  as  Robert 
Fowler,  Esq.,  a  man  of  refinement  and  culture  and 
fine  presence,  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  member  of 
the  Assembly. 

Miles  Hughes,  Esq.,  brother  of  Col.  Samuel  Hughes, 
was  a  prominent  public  man  who  occupied  positions 
of  trust.     He  was  much  respected. 


206        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Hudson  McFarland  was  a  citizen  of  Southfield, 
where  for  many  years  he  was  a  pohtical  leader.  He 
is  remembered  as  a  man  of  large  brain  and  sagacity, 
who  filled  a  number  of  official  positions. 

Peter  Townsend,  son  of  Peter  and  grandson  of 
Solomon  Townsend,  was,  like  his  ancestors,  one  of 
the  iron  kings  who  developed  the  mineral  and  busi- 
ness wealth  of  the  old  town.  He  was  a  man  of  large 
capacity  and  application  to  the  industry  to  which  he 
was  devoted,  generous  to  his  employees,  and  with  a 
fund  of  good  humor ;  while  his  hospitahty,  adminis- 
tered by  his  charming  wife,  Mrs.  Caroline  Parrish 
Townsend,  was  boundless.  It  was  a  sad  day  when 
their  rugged  workmen  carried  them  out  and  laid  them 
to  rest  on  the  cliff  on  the  old  homestead  at  Southfield. 

Peter  P.  Parrott  was  another  of  the  iron  kings. 
He  was  brother  of  Robert  Parrott,  of  Cold  Spring, 
N.  Y.,  who  was  associated  with  him  in  the  iron  busi- 
ness. Under  the  supervision  of  the  former,  the  iron 
was  taken  from  Monroe  mines,  smelted  at  the  furnace 
at  Greenwood  and  shipped  to  the  works  at  Cold 
Spring,  and  during  the  Civil  War  was  manufactured 
into  the  celebrated  Parrott  guns,  the  method  of  mak- 
ing and  reinforcing  which  was  their  own  invention. 
They  introduced  also  the  manufacture  of  mineral 
cotton,  used  for  fireproof  packing  and  filling.  The 
slag,  while  incandescent,  was  made  to  flow  in  the  cur- 
rent of  air  from  the  blowers,  and  was  scattered  hke 
snow-flakes  to  lodge  and  cool  in  a  large  chamber. 
He  said  at  that  time  there  were  only  two  others  hke 
it  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Peter  P.  Parrott  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
cheerfulness,  geniahty  and  energy.  He  had  been  a 
whaling  captain  in  early  hfe,  and  long  retained  his 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     207 

fondness  for  the  freedom  and  adventure  of  that  kind 
of  life.  His  conversation  was  bright,  his  manner  most 
cordial  toward  neighbor  and  employee.  His  home 
was  situated  above  a  lovely  glen,  looking  down  upon 
lake,  forest  and  garden,  teams  passing  and  furnace 
engines  throbbing  and  sending  out  their  pillars  of 
fire  and  smoke;  and  here,  with  a  bright  family  circle 
about  him,  he  seemed  the  very  favorite  of  fortune. 
But  the  fall  in  the  price  of  iron  and  the  cost  of  trans- 
porting fuel  rendered  it  necessary  to  close  the  works ; 
and  now  the  whole  place,  from  Wilkes'  almost  to 
Southfield,  has  been  converted  into  a  park,  under  the 
name  of  Arden,  the  family  name  of  Mrs.  Peter  Par- 
rott.  A  beautiful  Episcopal  church  and  rectory  re- 
main as  mementos  of  the  taste  and  character  of  the 
former  owners  and  controlling  spirits  of  the  place. 

Morgan  Shuitt,  Esq.,  was  for  many  years  one  of  the 
most  prominent  citizens  of  Central  Valley,  where  he 
exerted  a  controlling  influence  in  its  politics  and 
public  affairs.  It  is  enough  to  state  concerning  him 
that  he  was  elected  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  in 
1849,  and  was  reelected  to  that  post  each  year  there- 
after until  1881,  having  served  thirty-three  consecu- 
tive years,  the  longest  term  of  service  of  any  elec- 
tive officer  in  the  State. 

Mr.  Shuitt  was  a  born  leader  of  men.  He  had  the 
rare  honor  of  having  accorded  to  him  both  ability  and 
honesty  by  his  political  opponents.  He  is  another 
of  the  shining  marks  that  have  been  a  target  for  the 
King  of  Terrors. 

Peter  Tiu'ner  was  a  leading  citizen  of  Turners.  He 
and  his  wife  came  from  Buttermilk  Palls,  and  founded 
the  hamlet  bearing  their  name  very  early  in  the  cen- 
tury.    He  started  a  sawmill  and  then  a  grist-mill. 


208        Chronicles  of  Monroe  m  the  Olden  Time. 

He  said  the  people  then  were  so  disorderly  that  he 
had  to  mark  out  a  line  about  the  premises  beyond 
which  he  forbade  them  to  intrude.  He  soon  built 
the  hotel  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  When  the  Erie 
Company  was  organized  he  saw  what  a  favorable 
location  he  possessed  for  an  eating-station  on  the 
railroad.  He  then  built  the  restaurant,  and  after- 
wards had  an  interest  in  the  Orange  Hotel.  He  was 
a  successful  manager,  and  gave  his  house  the  reputa- 
tion of  setting  a  good  table.  His  son  James  suc- 
ceeded him,  and  was  regarded  as  the  prince  of 
providers. 

Elmore  Earl  was  highly  esteemed  in  the  same  ham- 
let, and  for  many  years  exercised  the  office  of  justice 
of  the  peace.  He  was  honest  and  capable,  leaving 
behind  him  a  good  record  for  fidehty. 

The  roll  of  worthy  sons  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out the  name  of  Chauncey  B.  Knight.  He  was  the 
eldest  son  of  the  late  Daniel  and  Catherine  Knight, 
both  prominent  in  the  memory  of  the  present  genera- 
tion. His  parents  belonged  to  a  long-hved  family, 
but  he  was  called  away  in  the  very  midst  of  his  days 
of  usefulness.  He  was  bom  on  the  homestead  in  the 
village,  and  received  his  education  at  the  district- 
school.  He  was  lame  in  early  life,  using  a  crutch, 
yet  was  able  to  hold  his  own  in  the  sports  of  his  com- 
panions. He  turned  his  attention  to  mercantile  pur- 
suits, and  entered  into  partnership  with  Gates  W. 
McGrarrah  in  1845,  at  the  corner  of  Church  and  Main 
streets,  for  the  sale  of  general  merchandise.  In  1846 
the  latter  built  a  store  near  the  depot,  and  dissolved 
the  partnership  with  Mr.  Knight.  The  latter  then 
continued  the  business  on  his  own  account,  with 
Matthew  B.  Swezey  as  clerk.     In  1849  he  built  the 


Biographical  Sketches^  Military  and  Civic.     209 

brick  store  opposite  the  railroad  station,  and  removed 
his  business  thither.  In  1851  he  was  appointed  sta- 
tion agent  by  the  Erie  Company,  when,  in  connec- 
tion with  it,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  lumber  and 
coal  trade,  together  with  that  of  flour  and  feed.  He 
renovated  the  old  mill,  putting  in  a  new  overshot 
wheel,  with  other  improvements.  When  the  wheel 
was  found  inadequate,  he  built  the  steam-mill  and  the 
present  office.  In  1861  he  was  appointed  postmaster, 
retaining  the  office  till  the  day  of  his  death.  In  1864 
he  was  elected  supervisor  of  the  town,  retaining  the 
office  till  the  town  was  consolidated.  He  formed  a 
partnership  with  Greorge  R.  Conklin  for  the  sale  of 
flour,  feed,  coal  and  lumber  in  1863,  which  continued 
harmonious  till  it  was  dissolved  by  death.  He  was  a 
trustee  of  the  Presbyterian  church  for  upwards  of 
thirty  years ;  also  its  treasurer,  taking  great  interest 
in  the  management  of  its  temporahties. 

In  1846  he  married  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
late  Rev.  John  Jay  Thompson,  and  his  children  were 
five  —  namely,  Chai'les  T.,  his  successor  in  flour  and 
feed  at  Monroe;  Fred.  J.,  civil  engineer;  Henry  B., 
merchant  at  Goshen;  Caroline  T.,  wife  of  Rev.  O. 
Elmer,  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota;  and  Mary  T.,  wife  of 
George  R.  Conkhn,  head  of  several  branches  of  busi- 
ness centering  at  Monroe. 

Mr.  Knight  was  a  man  of  integrity,  honest  in  busi- 
ness, a  kind  father,  a  friend  of  the  wage-earner,  a 
patriot,  and  a  man  of  affairs,  to  whom  many  looked 
for  counsel  in  different  walks  of  hfe.  He  was  a  man 
of  public  spirit,  to  whom  the  village  of  Monroe  was 
largely  indebted  for  many  improvements.  He  at- 
tached his  friends  very  strongly  to  him,  having  that 
rare  quality  of  bonhomie  that  makes  one  a  welcome 
27 


210        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

companion  in  business  or  recreation.  He  was  fond 
of  the  manly  sports  of  field  and  stream ;  and  those 
who  shared  these  recreations  with  him  will  never 
forget  his  untiring  patience  and  his  genial  conversa- 
tion at  the  camp-fire  or  on  the  trail. 

He  died  July  24,  1880,  much  lamented  by  friends 
and  business  men,  who  came  from  distant  parts  of 
the  county  to  testify  their  regard  for  him.  His 
memory  is  tenderly  cherished  by  those  —  of  whom  the 
writer  is  one  —  who  have  been  indebted  to  him  and  his 
goodwife,  who  was  his  inspiration  in  every  good 
work,  for  hospitality  shown  and  shelter  given  when 
the  whirligig  of  time  had  made  them  waifs  on  its 
stream. 

His  home  was  often  called  the  Home  of  the 
Friendless,  so  often  it  offered  shelter  to  relative 
and  neighbor.  It  was  one  of  those  Monroe  homes 
whose  latch-string  always  hung  out. 

To  this  sjrmposium  of  worthy  sons  we  might  invite 
many  other  spirits.  Some  still  in  the  flesh  are  hardly 
less  memorable.  But  there  would  be  a  manifest  want 
of  symmetry,  and  even  justice,  if  we  passed  without 
notice  the  f au'er  portion  of  Monroe,  namely,  her  daugh- 
ters. They  have  contributed  to  its  reputation  and 
helped  shape  its  destiny  in  a  quiet  way  not  less  than 
its  sons.  They  have  not  filled  professors'  chairs,  nor 
been  appointed  to  the  Coast  Sui'vey,  been  made  super- 
visors or  sent  to  the  legislature,  but  they  have  in- 
structed those  who  have  filled  all  these  positions. 
They  have  not  yet  been  made  electors  to  State  or 
Federal  offices,  but  we  have  seen  them  at  the  polls, 
with  refreshments,  to  induce  an  honest,  temperate 
vote.  They  have  not  been  called  to  bear  arms,  but 
they  have  been  called  to  give  up  their  sons  to  their 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.      211 

country,  and  provide  comfort  and  aid  for  the  wounded 
and  dying.  In  humblest  homes  we  have  seen  the  un- 
folding of  beautiful  and  heroic  character  silently  and 
fragrantly  as  some  night-blooming  cereus.  We  have 
noted  in  humblest  sphere  some  "  nameless  in  worthy 
deeds  who  awoke  to  find  them  fame."  But  Monroe 
has  had  some  ladies  of  remarkable  individuahty  of 
character  and  talent,  who,  if  their  environment  had 
been  more  incisive,  would  have  written  their  names 
on  the  scrolls  of  fame.  They  were,  like  some  of  the 
flowers  of  everglade  and  canon,  hid  from  the  mad- 
ding crowd,  but  worthy  of  a  place  in  princely  conser- 
vatory. And  yet,  perhaps,  the  humility  of  their  sur- 
roundings gave  them  their  mission  and  enabled  them 
to  play  their  very  part  in  the  great  economy  of  hf e. 
We  have  known  mothers  who  had  jewels  of  which 
they  were  as  proud  as  Cornelia ;  one  busy  with  needle 
and  distaff,  yet  teaching  her  children  at  her  side ;  a 
skilled  housekeeper  in  touch  with  the  literature  and 
journalism  of  the  day ;  one  that  could  wield  the  brush, 
another  the  pen,  another  that  could  minister  to  the 
mind  diseased,  another  whose  very  smile  brought 
sunshine  to  the  sick-room.  One  is  the  mistress  of  a 
Presbyterian  manse  far  out  toward  sunset,  another 
of  a  Baptist  parsonage  in  the  blue-grass  region,  an- 
other a  city  physician,  another  a  musical  professor 
and  teacher.  Lawyers,  editors,  physicians,  teachers, 
as  well  as  ministers,  have  come  to  our  old  town  to  find 
their  wives ;  and  all,  we  fancy,  for  the  reason  that  they 
knew  a  good  thing  when  they  found  it.  Now,  as 
reference  has  been  made  elsewhere  to  a  number  of 
these  worthy  dames,  it  remains  for  us  but  to  sketch 
one  or  two. 

One,  in  particular,  comes  to  our  notice  because  re- 


212        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

cently  deceased,  and  so  prominently  known,  namely, 
Mrs.  Rev.  Charles  B.  Newton.  She  was  the  youngest 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Jay  Thompson,  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  of  Monroe.  She  was  born 
in  this  town,  and  was  named  after  Mrs.  Margaret 
Boyd,  wife  of  Rev.  John  Boyd,  and  a  lady  of  most 
estimable  character.  Maggie's  early  education  began 
in  Monroe,  and  was  continued  in  Bloomingburg,  New 
York,  whither  her  parents  removed  after  her  father's 
resignation  of  the  Monroe  church.  The  death  of  her 
father  in  1849  broke  up  their  home,  and  sent  mother 
and  children  to  find  homes  with  relatives.  Strong  char- 
acters, hke  steel,  are  tempered  by  furnace  fire.  Mrs. 
Thompson  and  Maggie  found  it  so.  For  a  while  they 
leaned  on  the  arm  of  the  oldest  son,  J.  Howard 
Thompson,  but  he  was  removed  by  death,  at  Port 
Byron,  New  York.  Then  the  younger  son,  Benjamin, 
was  their  dependence  while  their  residence  was  at 
Monroe,  where  they  made  their  home  with  the  oldest 
daughter,  Mrs.  Chauncey  B.  Knight.  Now  she  enters 
upon  the  profession  of  teaching.  Her  first  charge  in 
this  town  is  the  Long  Pond  school.  Here  she  en- 
deared herself  greatly  to  pupils  and  patrons. 

Her  younger  brother,  Benjamin,  having  enhsted  in 
the  service  of  his  country  during  the  Civil  War,  and 
returned  with  honors  as  Colonel  Thompson,  Maggie 
went  to  reside  with  him  at  Williamsport,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

While  residing  here,  the  zenana  work  in  India  was 
attracting  the  attention  of  Christian  women  through- 
out the  world,  and  Maggie  gave  it  her  warmest  sym- 
pathy.    She  felt  she  had  a  call  to  this  special  work. 

The  Ladies'  Union  Missionary  Society,  hearing  of 
her  interest,  offered  her  an  appointment,  but  she  pre- 


Biographical  Sketches,  Military  and  Civic.     213 

f  erred  to  go  out  under  the  auspices  of  her  own  churcli, 
and  accordingly  received  an  appointment  to  the  field 
of  northern  India  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  She  embarked  in  Octo- 
ber, 1869,  and  had  as  her  companions  Miss  Sarah 
Morrison  and  Messrs.  Tracy  and  Kelso.  She  spent 
her  time  on  shipboard  studying  the  language,  and 
after  a  tedious  voyage  she  reached  her  destination. 
Dehra  Doon  was  her  first  field,  where  she  had  charge 
of  a  girls'  school.  Here  she  became  acquainted  with 
the  Rev.  Charles  B.  Newton,  of  Lodiana  Presbytery, 
to  whom  she  was  married.  Still  she  continued  her 
missionary  labors,  and  was  a  true  helpmeet  to  her 
husband  in  his  work  of  teaching  and  itinerating. 
Her  letters  at  this  time  to  friends  and  schools  at 
home  reveal  her  deep  love  for  the  work  to  which  she 
had  devoted  herseK.  Dehra  Doon  and  Woodstock 
were  household  words  with  the  children  at  Monroe. 

At  her  instance,  Muriam  Gurdyal,  a  Hindu  child, 
was  taken  under  the  care  of  the  Monroe  Presbyterian 
Sabbath-school,  and  she  afterwards  attained  distinc- 
tion as  a  trained  nurse. 

Mrs.  Newton  was  the  joyful  mother  of  six  boys  and 
one  girl.  Several  of  these  accompanied  their  mother 
to  this  country  and  received  part  of  their  education 
in  Monroe.  It  is  with  pleasure  we  recount  their  inten- 
tion to  devote  themselves  to  the  same  blessed  work  in 
India,  while  they  have  left  behind  pleasant  memories 
of  their  noble  character  and  bearing.  Mrs.  Newton's 
health  broke  down  under  the  enervating  climate  and 
work,  and  after  trying  the  hill  country  she  was  com- 
pelled a  second  time  to  return  to  this  country.  While 
here  she  was  untiring  in  efforts  to  awaken  a  deeper 
interest  in  the  cause  of  missions,  so  that  she  gained 


214       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

strength  slowly.  At  length  she  felt  she  must  return 
to  her  husband  and  little  gM  left  behind  in  that  far- 
off  land.  She  obtained  consent  of  her  physician  at 
last,  and  returned  in  the  spring  of  1897.  She  hved 
but  a  few  weeks  after  her  arrival,  falling  asleep  peace- 
fully after  twenty-eight  years  of  missionary  service, 
at  Landour,  Northern  India,  June  20, 1897.  She  met 
death  with  all  that  sweet  cheerfulness  for  which  she 
was  preeminent,  and  breathing  out  her  life  in  prayer 
and  song,  she  lay  down  to  rest,  "  and  her  works  do 
follow  her."  Mrs.  Newton's  sister,  Miss  Juha  Caro- 
Une  Thompson,  was  also  devoted  to  foreign  missions, 
and  although  not  called  to  go  to  the  field,  did  most 
efficient  work  in  editing  the  missionary  journal 
termed  "  Woman's  Work  for  Women."  Previous  to 
that  she  had  been  an  efficient  teacher  in  Monroe,  and 
accompanied  her  brother,  as  we  have  stated  elsewhere, 
to  Florida,  and  taught  there,  and  shared  in  his  remark- 
able trials  and  escape  from  the  South  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Civil  War.  Her  health  broke  down  under 
her  hterary  labors,  and  quite  early  she  was  called  to 
her  reward. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


EAELY  EOADS. 


THE  earliest  roads  about  Monroe  were  mere  Indian 
trails.  These  were  the  most  natural  and  easy 
routes  from  one  trading  post  or  village  to  another. 
They  did  not,  like  the  modern  traveler,  seek  the  most 
level  and  easy  way,  but  usually  the  most  direct,  even 
though  it  carried  them  over  rugged  hills  or  through 
dense  forests.  They  had  little  to  transport,  and  that 
mostly  on  foot,  so  that  they  did  not  need  wide  road- 
beds or  even  very  solid  ground.  They  could  find 
their  way  by  the  faintest  footprints,  broken  twigs  or 
leaves,  such  as  a  white  man  would  not  notice.  Clin- 
ton mentions  such  dim  paths  several  times  in  his 
Field  Book.  While  surveying  on  the  Isaac  Thomp- 
son farm  at  Turners,  he  crossed  the  Indian  path  to 
Ramapo. 

Another  such  path  extended  from  Sugarloaf  and 
Belvale,  where  was  an  Indian  settlement,  to  the  Clove, 
where  he  mentions  another  on  the  Dr.  Roe  place. 
Another  crossed  the  East  Mountain  to  Haverstraw. 

But  when  the  white  man  came  he  required  more 
substantial  roads  and  traversable  routes.  He  could 
not  find  his  way  by  such  obscure  indications  as  these 
children  of  nature ;  hence  blazed  the  way  through 
the  forest.     Then  he  began  to  remove  obstructions 

215 


216        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

that  wheeled  conveyances  might  take  the  place  of 
travel  on  foot  and  horseback ;  hence  he  sought  more 
level  routes.  We  have  stated  that  other  parts  of  the 
county  had  begun  to  be  settled  before  the  time  of 
Clinton's  survey.  These  people  must  find  their  way 
to  the  river  and  great  city,  hence  a  road  was  early 
made  from  Goshen  to  the  valley  of  the  Ramapo,  over 
the  East  Mountain  to  the  river  and  through  New 
Jersey  to  the  city.  Clinton  crossed  the  Goshen  road 
to  Stirling,  near  the  Indian  settlement  at  Sugarloaf, 
where  he  spent  a  night  in  a  wigwam.  He  refers  to 
another  road  which  crossed  Schunemunk  and,  from 
his  allusions,  can  be  traced  over  Bloom  Hill  to  Dick- 
erman,  thence  over  East  Mountain  to  the  river  at 
Haverstraw.  As  lots  were  taken  up  and  white  settle- 
ments established,  roads  would  soon  be  in  demand, 
and  when  the  demands  of  peace  were  slow  the  exi- 
gencies of  war  forced  new  routes  and  new  construc- 
tions. Thus  there  was  a  military  road  constructed 
further  inland  and  more  hidden  than  the  road  down 
the  valley  of  the  Ramapo,  which  was  infested  with 
cowboys  and  watched  by  English  cavahy.  This  old 
Revolutionary  road  passed  west  of  Tuxedo  up  among 
the  defiles  of  the  mountains  stretching  from  New 
Jersey  to  Monroe,  and  military  trains  with  ordnance 
and  ammunition  were  transported  during  these  stormy 
days  continually  by  this  route  from  one  part  of  the 
field  to  another. 

These  early  roads  were  rude  in  construction.  There 
was  little  attempt  at  engineering.  They  were  simply 
cut  through  forest,  over  hills,  a  few  of  the  worst  ob- 
structions removed,  ditches  and  water  turns  never 
thought  of.  Hence  travel  in  those  days  was  travail. 
Vehicles  and  teams  would  be  mired  and  pries  were 


Early  Roads.  217 

needed  to  lift  the  struggling  stage-coach  out  of  the 
terrible  ruts  and  sloughs.  A  facetious  stage-di'iver 
said  sometimes  the  only  way  he  could  see  to  drive 
his  team  was  by  the  ears  of  his  horses  sticking  out 
of  the  mud. 

This  condition  of  roads  led  to  the  construction  of 
turnpikes  along  the  great  mail  and  passenger  routes. 
The  first  turnpike  of  which  we  read  in  Orange 
County  was  one  from  the  house  of  Moses  Cunning- 
ham, which  was  near  Knight's  mill  at  Monroe,  to  the 
intersection  of  the  Stirling  road  near  the  house  of 
Stephen  Sloat.  It  was  charted  in  1800.  This  was 
extended  to  Suffern  and  to  Hoboken.  It  also  was 
stretched  northwardly  to  Groshen  and  called  the 
Groshen  turnpike.  Its  gates  were  standing  fifty  years 
ago  at  James  Ball's  and  near  Southfield.  At  Chester 
it  intersected  the  turnpike  from  Warwick.  At  Goshen 
it  merged  into  the  Newburg  turnpike,  and  there,  de- 
flecting northward,  it  became  the  grand  highway  on 
that  side  of  the  river  to  Albany.  First  the  upper, 
then  the  lower.  Clove,  lay  thus  in  this  route,  and 
through  these  favored  sections  was  most  of  the  land 
revealed  between  the  whole  of  the  State  west  of  the 
river  to  New  York.  The  section  through  the  village 
was  more  crooked  than  now.  It  was  shaped  like  a 
letter  S,  curving  back  of  Gr.  R.  Conklin's  and  coming 
out  at  Alfred  Carpenter's.  Not  far  from  here  the 
coach  was  once  robbed  by  footpads.  At  the  mill  it 
passed  up  over  Forshee  hill  to  Southfield.  The  road 
to  Seamanville  kept  well  up  on  Howell's  hill  to  the 
church.  It  passed  over  the  dam  to  Barton's  hill  to 
Turners.  The  lane  was  a  private  road,  used  as  a 
race-course  sixty  years  ago. 

There  has  been  great  progress  in  road-building  in 
28 


218        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

the  last  few  years.  The  introduction  of  improved 
conveyances,  the  demands  of  milk  transportation,  and 
now  the  coming  of  the  bicycle  have  all  contributed 
to  make  road  commissioner  and  pathmaster  mend 
their  ways  and  encourage  the  construction  of  better 
highways. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


ERIE   RAILWAY. 


THIS  railway  has  been  so  closely  identified  with 
the  interests  of  this  town  that  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  its  history.  Some 
parts  of  it  read  like  a  romance. 

The  first  idea  out  of  which  it  was  evolved  was  the 
need  to  connect  the  inland  lakes  with  the  seaboard. 
Such  communication  was  necessary  both  for  com- 
mercial and  military  reasons.  Governor  De  Witt 
Clinton  was  the  first  to  suggest  the  building  of  a 
canal.  The  Erie  Canal  was  built  and  finished  in  1825, 
and  the  grandson  of  the  surveyor  of  the  Cheesecock 
Patent  has  the  credit  of  it. 

But  the  application  of  steam  to  land  carriage  hav- 
ing soon  been  demonstrated  a  success,  some  ingenious 
mind  conceived  the  idea  of  binding  eastern  and  west- 
ern New  York  by  a  railroad.  The  first  experiment 
in  this  State  was  a  short  line  from  Albany  to  Schenec- 
tady. The  late  John  B.  Groff  described  a  trip  on  the 
road,  in  which  the  conductor  had  to  get  out  and 
sweep  off  the  track  with  brooms,  a  light  snow  having 
obstructed  the  train.  The  late  W.  D.  Snodgrass, 
D.D.,  also,  in  his  jubilee  address  stated  that  he  was 
going  to  Presbytery  at  Schenectady.  Some  of  the 
brethren  chose  to  go  by  steam.  He  took  the  stage- 
coach, and  arrived  there  first.     Out  of  this  small  be- 

219 


220        Chronicles  of  Monroe  m  the  Olden  Time. 

ginning  developed  the  great  New  York  Central  and 
Hudson  River  Railroad. 

But  long  before  this  was  constructed,  for  it  grew 
in  sections,  and  was  consolidated  from  them,  Erie 
was  conceived  as  a  unit  —  one  grand,  comprehensive, 
broad-gauge  railway  along  the  southern  tier  of  coun- 
ties from  the  Hudson  to  Dunkirk  on  Lake  Erie. 

The  first  charter  was  granted  in  1832  by  the  State 
of  New  York.  Its  first  president  was  EUezer  Lord ; 
its  chief  engineer,  Henry  Seymour. 

The  estmiated  cost  of  this  enterprise  was  three 
millions  of  dollars,  a  large  sum  for  that  day. 

The  projected  route  was  starting  from  New  York 
to  cross  by  ferry  to  Hoboken,  then  laying  a  track 
through  New  Jersey  to  strike  New  York  at  Suffern, 
and  then  take  the  westward  route  to  the  lake.  But 
their  project  met  with  an  obstacle  at  the  very  outset. 
The  State  of  New  Jersey  was  unwilling  to  grant  such 
a  franchise  to  a  foreign  company  without  the  pay- 
ment of  heavy  royalty.  This  was  declined ;  hence  the 
route  had  to  be  changed  and  steamboat  transporta- 
tion adopted  as  far  as  Piermont.  This  involved  un- 
expected cost,  especially  the  construction  of  a  long 
pier  to  accommodate  the  boats  bringing  freight  and 
passengers  up  the  river. 

The  fii'st  report  showed  an  expenditure  of  six  mil- 
lions. Means  and  credit  were  now  exhausted.  Sub- 
scription books  were  opened,  but  means  were  not 
forthcoming.  The  company  was  forced  to  suspend. 
In  the  settlement  proposed  the  State  was  willing  to 
release  its  loan  of  three  millions  if  the  stockholders 
would  give  up  half  their  stock.  This  gave  great  dis- 
satisfaction to  farmers  of  Orange  County,  who  were 
large  shareholders.     But  there  was  no  alternative. 


Erie  Railway.  221 

The  company  is  reorganized  under  the  name  of  the 
New  York  and  Erie,  and  takes  a  new  start.  It  has 
comparatively  an  easy  task  through  Rockland  County, 
but  when  it  strikes  Monroe,  Orange  County,  its  toils 
begin.  It  strikes  a  rugged  mountain  region,  through 
which  a  stream  pursues  its  sinuous  way,  now  on  one 
side  of  the  rock  road-bed,  again  on  the  other. 

The  engineers  took  advantage  of  the  water-level, 
but  found  they  had  many  bridges  to  be  provided  for. 
Two  of  Monroe's  sons  took  their  first  lessons  here, 
namely,  Phineas  H.  Thompson,  who  was  track- 
master,  and  T.  B.  Brooks,  who  was  employed  with 
the  engineer  corps. 

The  first  train  reached  Monroe  in  1841.  It  was  a 
construction  train.  It  created  a  great  sensation, 
some  meeting  it  at  Seamanville,  the  young  girls  leav- 
ing the  milking-yards  in  sunbonnets  and  aprons. 
They  climbed  on  the  sides  of  the  engine  when  it 
stopped.  "  We  were  permitted  to  ride  to  the  village," 
said  our  lady  informant,  "and  we  got  our  clothes 
greased,  but  it  was  one  of  the  great  events  of  our 
lives."  After  it  reached  the  village  of  Monroe  the 
hands  ran  the  engine  on  the  switch  and  reversed  it. 
They  then  repaired  to  the  hotel  of  Mr.  John  Groff  for 
a  meal.  The  boys  then,  true  to  instinct,  climbed  on 
board  and  commenced  monkeying  with  the  brakes 
and  lever.  They  soon  found  out  how  to  open  the 
throttle,  which  they  did.  But  they  did  not  learn 
how  to  use  the  lever.  The  engine  soon  began  to 
move  off  slowly  down  the  track.  They  tried  to  stop 
it,  but  failed  to  reverse  the  engine.  They  tried  their 
best  to  overcome  the  mischief  by  throwing  wood  and 
rails  before  the  monster,  but  on  it  kept  till  near  Sea- 
manville, when  the  engine  hands,  scenting  trouble. 


222        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

ran  down  the  track,  put  on  the  brakes  and  stopped 
the  runaway ;  hut  not  a  hoy  was  in  sight,  or  there 
would  have  been  more  pungent  memories  of  the 
escapade. 

In  1847  the  road-bed  had  reached  Middletown,  and 
by  1848  it  had  crossed  the  mountain  to  Port  Jervis. 

Beyond  Port  Jervis  the  work  becomes  far  more 
difficult.  The  cutting  of  rock  ledges  along  the  Dela- 
ware, the  spanning  of  gorges  by  bridges,  the  crossing 
of  lowlands  by  viaducts,  demanded  the  highest  efforts 
of  science,  yet  in  1851  the  track  was  completed  to 
Dunkirk,  and  the  last  spike  of  the  single  wide-gauge 
track  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railway  was  driven. 

All  this  while  the  steamboats  conveyed  the  pas- 
sengers to  Piermont,  where  they  were  transferred  to 
the  trains  of  the  road.  We  remember  at  this  time 
an  incident  of  Conductor  Ayres,  who,  hearing  the  com- 
plaint of  an  old  lady  that  she  had  left  her  umbrella 
on  the  boat, —  "  Never  mind,"  said  he,  "  I  will  tele- 
graph for  it."  He  touched  the  bell-rope  overhead, 
went  forward  and  soon  returned  with  the  lost  article. 
"  La !  what  can't  the  telegraph  do!"  was  her  exclama- 
tion. Concessions  having  been  obtained  from  the 
State  of  New  Jersey,  the  track  was  laid  through  that 
State  to  Suffern.  The  steamboats  to  Piermont  were 
taken  off  in  1852.  The  road,  with  its  single  track, 
covered  470  miles.  In  1860,  when  its  double  track 
had  been  laid,  it  covered  773  miles ;  and  now,  with  its 
numerous  branches,  2087,  a  most  wonderful  network 
covering  many  States,  gathering  the  wealth  of  the 
richest  regions  of  our  fair  land,  and  illustrating  not 
merely  the  engineering  skill  of  the  country,  but  giv- 
ing employment  to  the  largest  capital  and  the  high- 
est talent  of  any  single  enterprise   of  the   kind.     It 


Erie  Railway.  223 

gathers  and  brings  the  wealth  of  the  continent  and 
pours  it  into  the  lap  of  the  metropolitan  city  of  the 
country.  When  it  taps  Orange  County  it  becomes  a 
"  milky  way,"  milhons  of  gallons  of  milk,  with  other 
dairy  products,  being  transported  over  its  track  to 
swell  the  wealth  and  supply  the  wants  of  Greater  New 
York.  What  began  in  a  milk-train  of  two  or  three  cars 
conducted  by  Joseph  Northrup,  has  become  one  of 
the  longest  and  most  profitable  trains  on  the  road. 

In  the  earlier  period  of  the  history  of  Erie,  its  affairs 
were  honestly  managed,  and  prosperity  dawned  on 
the  road.  But  after  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War, 
when  speculation  created  a  sort  of  fever,  the  road  fell 
into  bad  hands.  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  and  Jay  Grould 
managed  to  get  control ;  the  one  becoming  president, 
the  other  controller.  They  held  one  fourth  of  the 
30,000  shares,  a  large  proportion  of  which  were 
fraudulent.  They  now  began  to  manipulate  the 
market  after  the  fashion  of  Wall  street.  To  further 
their  schemes,  they  put  on  excursion  trains,  promised 
new  depots,  and  gave  the  appearance  of  unlimited 
credit.  Then  were  built  the  Grand  Opera  House  on 
Twenty-third  street  and  the  Orange  Hotel  at  Turners. 
Fisk  managed  to  secure  control  of  the  Fall  River  line 
of  steamboats.  These  he  fitted  up  with  palatial  splen- 
dor, and  on  them  entertained  his  friends  with  great 
excui'sions.  He  dressed  in  the  splendid  garb  of  an  offi- 
cer, and  would  stand  at  the  gang-plank  and  receive 
his  guests  with  the  magnificence  of  an  admiral.  He 
had  the  ambition  and  avarice  of  a  Nero  and  all  his 
unscrupulousness.  He  soon  reached  out  and,  with  the 
aid  of  a  party  of  roughs,  seized  the  Albany  and  Sus- 
quehanna road.  About  this  time  an  Orange  County 
farmer  went  to  hear  Christy's  minstrels,  and  Christy, 


224        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

satirizing  Fisk,  said,  "  When  I  want  a  partner  I  shall 
choose  one  who  can  steal  a  railroad."  A  new  rival — 
Cornelius  Yanderbilt — appears  in  the  field.  The  old 
financier,  however,  finds  the  new  King  of  Erie  too 
much  for  him.  As  fast  as  he  buys  stock,  Fisk  and 
Grould  manufacture  it.  At  last  the  victim  is  gorged, 
an  interview  follows  between  him  and  his  rivals, 
the  old  man  swoons,  his  tormenters  are  alarmed, 
and  the  matter  is  compromised  and  hushed  up. 

The  career  of  Fisk  culminated  in  the  affair  of  Black 
Friday,  September  24, 1869.  A  plot  had  been  formed 
to  make  a  corner  in  gold.  He  got  control  of  six  mil- 
lions. There  were  but  twenty  milhons  afloat  outside 
of  the  United  States  Treasury.  Fisk  on  that  morning 
went  into  the  gold-room  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  pro- 
claimed himself  the  Napoleon  of  the  street,  offering 
to  bet  50,000  dollars  in  gold  that  gold  would  go  up  to 
two  hundred  before  night.  No  one  viewing  the  scene 
can  forget  the  consternation  created,  nor  the  fierce 
conflict  of  bulls  and  bears  that  ensued.  Fisk  himself 
had  to  flee  for  refuge  to  the  Erie  rooms  at  the  Opera 
House,  where  he  rallied  his  roughs,  who  defended 
him  with  shot-guns.  Terrible  was  the  upheaval. 
Credit  was  shaken  from  cope  to  base.  Adjustments 
were  called  for.  Even  the  conspirators  called  a  halt. 
In  the  settlement  it  is  a  curious  fact  that,  according 
to  Professor  Andrews,  $4,500,000  of  debt  was  un- 
loaded upon  Erie,  merely  by  the  change  of  two  letters 
— Tr.  (treasurer)  for  J.  G.  (J.  Gould). 

But  these  high-handed  proceedings  at  last  came  to 
an  end.  The  highest  legal  talent  was  employed — no 
less  than  David  Dudley  Field,  Esq.,  and  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  Esq.  Tweed,  Fisk,  and  others  were 
indicted  for  malversation  of  funds.     Tweed  fled  at 


Erie  Railway.  225 

night  and  embarked  on  an  outgoing  vessel,  but  was 
overtaken,  brought  back  and  died  in  prison.  Fisk 
stood  his  trial,  but  when  asked,  "  What  became  of  the 
funds,"  he  insolently  replied,  "They  have  gone  up  the 
spout,  where  the  woodbine  twineth."  Before  punish- 
ment could  be  meted  legally  he  was  shot  by  a  rival, 
Edward  S.  Stokes,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Hoffman 
House.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
episodes  in  the  history  of  "  wicked  and  unreasonable 
men,"  from  whom  the  great  apostle  prays  we  may  be 
delivered. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  these  transactions  de- 
pressed the  credit  of  the  road  and  brought  Erie  to 
bottom  prices.  Said  the  Rev.  James  Wood  about 
this  time,  while  preaching  over  Oxford  Depot,  and 
being  disturbed  by  Sunday  trains,  "  This  is  the  great 
New  York  and  Erie  Road,  stock  seven  cents  on  the 
dollar." 

The  impossibility  of  overtaking  the  debt  sent  the 
road,  in  1875,  a  second  time  into  the  hands  of  a  re- 
ceiver. Out  of  this  dilemma  it  emerges  on  April  27, 
1878,  reorganized  with  the  new  name  New  York,  Lake 
Erie  and  Western  Railroad.  But  this  name,  like 
some  that  aristocracy  give  to  childi'en,  tired  them  to 
write,  so  the  company,  after  another  reorganization 
in  1893,  came  out  with  the  more  simple  and  sensible 
sobriquet  of  the  Erie  Railway.  With  that  may  it 
go  down  to  history,  and  its  prestige  never  grow  less! 

An  incident  of  some  historical  interest  occurred  in 
the  summer  of  1850.  The  late  J.  Henry  Bertholf 
was  waiting  at  Turners  station,  when  the  superin- 
tendent, Mr.  Charles  Minot,  arrived  on  a  passenger- 
train.  An  express  was  then  due,  but  was  behind 
time.  It  was  the  law  of  the  road  for  west-bound 
29 


226        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

trains  to  lay  off  till  the  east-bound  reported.  Seeing 
what  delays  this  occasioned,  Mr.  Minot  entered  the 
telegraph  office  and  startled  the  operator  by  com- 
manding him  to  wii'e  the  operator  at  Port  Jervis  to 
hold  the  express  till  he  should  arrive.  After  proper 
verification  he  went  out  and  ordered  the  conductor  to 
proceed ;  he  refused,  and  was  immediately  discharged. 
Then  the  engineer  was  ordered  to  pull  out,  but  he 
would  not  take  the  risk ;  whereupon  Mr.  Minot 
pulled  him  from  his  cab,  and  gave  him  suitable  marks 
of  his  displeasure.  Then  he  leaped  on  the  engine, 
and  ran  it  to  Port  Jervis,  and  found  the  other  had 
not  yet  reached  Lackawaxen.  This  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  instance  of  the  kind,  and  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  system  so  universally  adopted  of  run- 
ning and  du*ecting  trains  by  telegraph. 

The  gradients  of  the  Erie  road  are  of  interest,  in- 
asmuch as  they  indicate  the  relative  levels  of  Monroe 
and  some  of  the  neighboring  villages.  We  are  in- 
debted to  Mr.  John  B.  BerthoK  for  the  following 
facts.  From  a  profile  furnished  by  him  represent- 
ing topographical  surveys  of  that  road,  we  learn 
that  the  grade  begins  at  Jersey  City,  with  five  feet 
above  tide- water.  Then  it  runs  with  httle  variation 
to  Hackensack  Junction,  where  it  begins  to  rise.  Its 
first  ascent  is  by  a  grade  of  46  feet  to  the  mile  to 
Rutherford;  there  it  falls  back  to  Passaic  Bridge, 
starts  again,  and  mounts  111  feet  to  Paterson.  It 
dips  again  to  Hawthorne ;  then  starts  again,  and  con- 
tinues to  rise  to  Monroe  by  a  gradient  of  42  feet  to 
the  mile.  This  gives  Monroe  a  level  of  606  feet 
above  tide-water  at  the  station.  This  is  147  feet 
above  Chester,  150  above  Goshen,  44  above  Middle- 
town.     The  grade  from  Monroe  to  Oxford  is  by  a 


Erie  Railway.  227 

descent  of  59  feet  to  the  mile,  exceeded  only  by  the 
ascent,  to  Otisville,  of  60  feet  to  the  mile.  The  sum- 
mit of  the  east  division  is  just  beyond  Otisville,  and 
is  901  feet  above  tide-water. 

The  summit  of  the  Susquehanna  division  is  1373 
feet  above  tide-water.  On  the  western  division  at 
Tip  Top  it  is  1783  feet  above. 

Its  heaviest  gradients  are  exceeded  by  those  of  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  very  greatly  by 
some  of  the  English  roads. 

The  Erie  road,  while  opening  up  so  much  of  busi- 
ness to  Monroe,  has  had  the  earnest  cooperation  and 
loyalty  of  its  best  citizens.  It  has  also  enlisted  some 
of  its  best  manhood.  Take  an  instance  or  two : 
Phineas  H.  Thompson,  son  of  Phineas  Thompson,  of 
Turners,  commenced  railroading  for  the  company,  in 
the  spring  of  1841,  as  a  track  boss,  from  Turners  to 
Monroe.  After  that  he  was  promoted  to  be  conductor 
of  an  express-train  running  from  Jersey  City  to  El- 
mira,  now  the  No.  1.  This  position  he  held  with 
honor  till  the  autumn  of  1860,  when,  his  health  fail- 
ing, he  resigned;  and  soon  after,  exhausted  by  the 
incessant  care  and  responsibility  of  his  position,  he 
died.  He  had  the  reputation  of  strict  fidelity  to  his 
trust. 

Virgil  Y.  Thompson  also  early  devoted  himself  to 
a  like  vocation,  starting  in  about  1850 ;  and  was  soon 
promoted  to  be  conductor  of  an  express-train.  He 
early  wore  out  in  the  service  of  the  company,  and, 
hke  his  brother,  died  in  the  prime  of  life. 

Brewster  Mapes,  son  of  Job  Mapes,  of  Monroe  vil- 
lage, turned  his  attention  to  railroading,  and  is  re- 
membered as  a  very  popular  conductor  of  passenger- 
trains.      After  years   of    service   on    the    road,  his 


228        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

comrades  report  liim  as  enjoying  otium  cum  dig.  as 
postmaster  at  Cherry  Hill,  New  Jersey. 

The  company  has  had  the  services  of  many  other 
citizens  of  the  old  town  in  some  of  its  varied  depart- 
ments—  constructive,  telegraphic,  baggage,  or  pas- 
senger. We  need  but  mention  the  names  of  S.  W. 
Miller,  section  superintendent ;  Daniel  Bertholf ,  elohn 
Bertholf,  Wilham  Boyd, —  all  in  important  positions 
in  the  telegraph  service ;  Wilham  H.  Smith,  Peter  T. 
Smith,  in  the  baggage  department ;  while  Chas.  W. 
Rumsey,  of  Turners,  is  superintendent  of  the  Erie 
ferries. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

APPEAEANCE  OF  THE  OLD  VILLAGE. 

WE  have  already  stated  that  the  first  site  of  the 
village  of  Monroe  was  on  the  stage  road,  about 
half  a  mile  south.  When  the  Erie  road  was  laid  out 
through  the  Clove,  there  was  a  movement  to  meet  it 
and  secure  the  advantages  of  business  it  offered. 
But  there  were  some  buildings  on  the  present  site 
before  that.  Nicholas  Knight  had  bought  lands 
of  Hophni  Smith,  Andrew  Van  Valer,  and  David 
Knight,  as  far  back  as  1808,  and  built  where  Clarence 
Knight  hves.  This  we  mention  as  the  first  house  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  village.  Next  this  was  the 
storehouse  of  McCullough  and  Lynch.  This,  when 
altered  to  a  dwelling,  was  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Conklin.  Next  was  the  site  of  the  cabin  of  Claudius 
Smith,  the  siding  being  of  plank,  set  perpendicularly. 

Opposite  was  the  mill,  originally  Cunningham's 
mill.  It  was  bought  by  Nicholas  Knight,  and  for 
ninety  years  has  been  in  possession  of  the  family. 
On  the  south  side  of  Mill  street,  west,  was  the  resi- 
dence of  Daniel,  and  later  his  brother,  Jeremiah 
Knight. 

Returning  to  Main  street,  the  first  house  on  the 
hill  going  north  was  the  miller's  house.  We  are  told 
the  father  of  John  Brooks  lived  there  and  plied  his 
trade  of  making  shuttles  sixty  years  ago. 

229 


230        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Next  was  the  Letts  property,  now  tlie  residence  of 
Henry  Ryder,  blacksmith.  This  originally  was  a  low, 
double  house  where  a  private  school  was  taught  by 
Miss  Sarah  Thompson  and  Miss  Mary  Stickney. 
Next  was  the  office  of  Dr.  E.  B.  Carpenter,  adjoining 
which  was  his  house.  It  was  afterwards  the  harness- 
shop  and  residence  of  John  Gregory.  Next  to  it  was 
the  dwelling  of  Job  Mapes,  the  village  tailor.  His 
son  Brewster  was  for  many  years  a  conductor  on  the 
Erie  road.  Phineas  Brooks  lived  about  this  spot, 
and  Oscar,  his  son,  had  a  shoe-making  shop  adjoin- 
ing. The  shop  of  John  Jenkins  stood  where  the 
Catholic  church  now  is.  His  shop  contained  the 
village  library  and  minerals,  photographic  and  under- 
taker's goods,  for  he  was  a  multi-gifted  man.  His 
shop  was  burned  in  the  fifties,  and  replaced  by  a 
cobblestone  house,  once  the  residence  of  the  late 
J.  K.  Roe. 

The  Jenkins  residence  was  saved,  and  is  now  the 
home  of  Henry  Mapes.  Next  were  the  shop  and  out- 
buildings of  John  Boyce.  The  latter  were  burned 
on  New  Year's  eve,  1875. 

Next  was  the  residence  of  Albertson  Newman, 
father  of  Mrs.  Mary  Davy,  who,  then  an  infant,  was 
thrown  out  of  the  window  into  a  snow-bank  dmdng  a 
fire.  This  was  the  winter  of  1835.  The  house  was 
rebuilt  by  Jeremiah  and  Daniel  Knight.  The  Pres- 
byterian manse  now  occupies  the  site.  Next  was  a 
fine  orchard  planted  by  Andrew  Yan  Yaler.  Then 
the  tannery  house,  now  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
manse.  Next,  the  residence  of  the  late  Grates  W. 
McGarrah.  Some  distance  to  the  north  was  the 
Uttle  tin-shop  of  C.  Newkirk.  Daniel  Fuller's  was 
next,  then  the  store  of  the  Misses  McGrarrah,  Aunt 


Appearance  of  the  Old  Village.  231 

Hannah  and  Nellie,  interesting  relics  of  the  ancient 
past.  Next  was  the  store  of  Mr.  G.  W.  McGarrah, 
built  in  1843. 

The  brick  store  was  not  in  existence  then,  but  a 
gravel  bank  occupied  the  comer  opposite  the  railroad. 
Over  the  road  was  the  garden  of  John  Gregory.  From 
that  almost  to  Alfred  Carpenter's  there  was  nothing 
but  rocks  and  scrub-oaks,  except  a  little  garden  where 
the  C.  B.  Knight  residence  stands,  cultivated  by 
Phineas  Brooks,  the  stones  taken  from  which  were 
enough  to  macadamize  rods  of  road. 

A  log  cabin  stood  beyond,  north  of  the  road,  occu- 
pied by  one  Hall,  who  had,  it  was  said,  twelve 
daughters.  At  the  site  of  Alfred  Carpenter's  house 
was  a  tavern  kept  by  James  Mapes.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  stage  road  were  rocks  and  scrub  till  we 
reach  the  Lynch  tavern,  with  its  quaint  sign.  Here 
John  Brooks  built  a  Uttle  stone  house  on  which  is 
this  inscription : 

o  Highland  Cement 

2 

^  Beach  Sand 

1830 
J.  B. 

This  small  house  has  an  arched  entrance  for  wagon, 
and  five  rooms,  none  of  which  are  on  the  same  level. 
The  Granite  House  was  built  by  the  late  John 
Brooks  about  the  year  1850.  Here  both  he  and  his 
wife  lived,  reared  their  family  and  died,  leaving  it 
and  its  well-tilled  fields  a  monument  of  their  thrift 
and  sturdy  industry. 


232        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

The  former  property  once  belonged  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church  and  was  occupied  as  a  parsonage.  Rev. 
Messrs.  Howell  and  J.  Boyd  resided  here.  Next 
was  the  httle  house,  still  standing,  occupied  by  a 
chairmaker.  Then  came  the  house  of  Mrs.  Harvey 
Shove.  The  Joshua  Mapes  property,  shop  and  house 
followed.  Next,  the  Railroad  Hotel,  kept  by  A.  Stick- 
ney.  Over  the  track  was  the  Dr.  Joseph  R.  Andrews 
orchard  and  house.  The  latter  was  built  in  1811. 
Beyond  his  barn  stood  a  large  black  oak  which  was 
struck  by  lightning  as  Mrs.  Andrews  lay  on  her  death- 
bed. Back  in  the  lot  was  an  old  house  once  occu- 
pied by  Nathan  Mapes,  who  had  seven  sons  and  one 
daughter.  The  names  of  the  sons  were  James,  John, 
Jonathan,  Joshua,  Julius,  Joel  and  George,  all  men  of 
marked  traits  of  character.  The  last  was  an  accom- 
plished drummer. 

A  little  house  occupied  by  T.  Early  remains  next 
the  Andrews  property.  There  was  nothing  on  the 
Presbyterian  Church  lot.  Next  was  the  residence 
of  Dr.  Ezray;  next,  the  dwelhng  of  Mrs.  Scobey, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Van  Valer;  next,  an  old  tavern, 
quite  near  the  road.  M.  B.  Swezey  lived  and  died 
here.  Wm.  Seaman  bought  it  and  set  it  back. 
Next,  a  tailor  shop  kept  by  Job  Mapes.  Up-stairs 
was  a  little,  low  room  where  prayer-meetings  were 
held.  Next,  the  store  of  Matthew  B.  Swezey.  In 
the  middle  of  Church  street  was  a  large  hickory  tree, 
once  a  liberty-pole.  Over  the  street  was  the  store  of 
John  McGarrah.  His  hotel  stood  next.  John  Groff 
occupied  it  fifty  years  ago.  Back  in  the  lot  were 
the  ruins  of  the  old  David  Smith  log  house.  David 
Webb  lived  on  the  hill  toward  the  brook,  and  Thos. 
Jenkins  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 


Appearance  of  the  Old  Village.  233 

Church  street  was  the  old  Dunderberg  road,  cut 
through  in  1814.  A  half -century  ago  there  were  no 
buildings  on  it  but  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
the  Dr.  J.  C.  Boyd  homestead  and  the  old  Van  Duzer 
gable  house,  for  a  while  the  residence  of  Rev.  J.  J. 
Thompson.  Still  further  east  were  the  Juhus  Mapes 
homestead  and  the  Presbyterian  manse. 

Now  such  was  old  Monroe.  What  a  change  a 
few  years  have  made !  Now  the  single  street  has 
ramified  to  many,  the  weather-boarded  dwellings 
have  been  superseded  by  handsome  cottages;  solid 
brick  warehouses  and  blocks  take  the  place  of  stuffy 
shops  and  stragghng  stores ;  while  mills,  creameries, 
and  academy  and  churches  contrive  to  make  it  one 
of  the  most  wide-awake  villages  of  the  county. 
Think  of  it :  two  newspapers  claim  and  use  the 
prestige  of  its  name !  — "  The  Monroe  Herald,"  pub- 
lished by  Jas.  J.  McNally,  Esq.,  of  Groshen,  and 
"  The  Monroe  Times,"  edited  by  Eugene  D.  Stokem, 
Esq.,  of  Central  Valley.  Monroe  village  also  boasts 
a  Meyers  ballot  machine,  an  ingenious  affair  that 
makes  voting  and  counting  easy  to  the  intelligent, 
but  by  the  ignorant  is  as  much  dreaded  as  the  old 
iron  instrument  of  torture  called  "  the  Virgin." 

But  we  must  not  omit  old  Centreville  of  fifty  years 
ago,  now  Turners.  Then  it  was  a  little  cross-road 
village,  with  a  handful  of  houses  clustering  about  a 
blacksmith  shop,  public-house,  mill  and  school-house. 

This  last  contained  one  low,  square  room,  three 
sides  occupied  by  desks  on  which  a  generation  had 
graved  its  hieroglyphs.  The  center  was  a  parallelo- 
gram of  oaken  benches  drawn  up  around  an  old  rusty 
box-stove  on  which  many  a  chestnut  was  roasted. 
A  high  desk  with  narrow  seat  was  the  throne  from 
30 


234       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Oldest  Time. 

which  the  monarch  of  this  petty  empire  dispensed  the 
mysteries  of  learning  and  enforced  them  with  the 
rod.  Here  also  on  Sabbath  evenings  the  neighboring 
clergy  preached,  for  there  was  no  church  edifice  at 
Turners  then.  None  of  the  older  people  can  forget 
the  fervor  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hermance,  or  of  the 
present  writer  as  he  stood  with  three  tallow  candles 
before  him  and  a  pair  of  snuffers  to  trim  the  little 
farthing  rush-lights  while  he  sought  to  win  to  the 
higher  life  some  of  those  restless  youth  to  whom  the 
whistle  of  the  New  York  express  was  far  more 
attractive  than  the  silver  trumpet  of  Sinai  and 
Calvary.  Turners  now  has  a  flourishing  Method- 
ist Episcopal  church,  Sunday-school  and  Epworth 
League,  which  together  are  making  their  influence 
felt  upon  the  moral  education  of  the  community. 
For  many  years  there  was  a  sanitarium  here,  under 
the  management  of  Dr.  Gillette.  His  daughter,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Meyers,  has  succeeded  him  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  enjoys  a  well-earned  reputation. 

The  Orange  Hotel,  built  in  1864,  was  for  a  time  an 
ornament  to  the  place,  but  was  destroyed  by  fire  on 
the  night  of  December  26,  1873,  restoring  the  custom 
to  the  old  restaurant  established  by  the  late  Peter 
Turner  sixty  years  ago.  His  hotel  is  standing,  and 
still  retains  the  memory  and  prestige  of  good  cheer 
and  skilful  management  by  both  host  and  hostess  in 
the  early  days  of  railroad  travel. 

The  Creamery  of  Turners,  under  the  management 
of  its  farmers,  flourished  for  many  years.  A  rival 
creamery  is  in  process  of  building,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Erie  Company,  on  the  shore  of  the  mill-stream. 

Southfield  is   another   of  the  villages  of  the  old 
town.     It  was  formerly  called  Monroe  Works.     The 


Appearance  of  the  Old  Village.  235 

nucleus  of  the  place  was  the  iron-works  of  Townsend 
Noble  &  Co.  The  elder  Peter  Townsend,  whose 
family-seat  was  at  Chester,  Orange  County,  built  a 
mansion  here  in  the  midst  of  a  large  tract  of  land 
owned  by  him.  A  nail-factory  was  established  on 
the  railroad,  which  was  operated  for  a  time.  This 
has  been  followed  by  a  shoddy-mill,  and  since  by  an 
iron-bedstead  factory.  The  hotel  of  the  late  John 
Coffey  was  at  Southfield.  It  has  a  flourishing  Metho- 
dist church  and  Sunday-school. 

About  a  mile  east  of  Turners  is  another  and  much 
younger  village,  namely,  that  of  Central  Valley.  It 
is  about  half-way  between  Tuxedo  and  Woodbury. 
It  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  beautiful  scenery,  flanked 
by  the  Highlands  on  the  east  and  foot-hills  on  the 
west,  in  a  clove,  or  narrow  valley,  stretching  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  in  length.  The  nucleus  of  this  village 
was  a  celebrated  boarding-school  kept  by  Professor 
Cornell.  Here  many  Cuban  youths  were  educated. 
Then  was  started  an  Institute  Hall,  where  lectures 
and  religious  services  were  conducted.  Boarding- 
houses  sprang  up  as  soon  as  this  region  came  to  be 
better  known.  These  created  a  demand  for  stores 
and  a  post-office.  Now  there  is  a  flourishing  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  with  all  the  institutions  that  belong 
to  it.  A  grand  sanitarium  has  been  opened  by  Dr. 
Ferguson,  which  has  already  attained  eminence  for  its 
professional  skill  and  efficient  nursing. 

The  Summit  Lake  House,  kept  by  Elisha  Stock- 
bridge  on  the  East  Mountain,  is  a  very  popular  resort. 
Situated  on  the  banks  of  a  beautiful  lake,  and  on  the 
very  mountain-top,  it  offers  attractions  to  the  sports- 
man and  the  lover  of  sylvan  solitude  and  communion 
with  nature. 


236        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

A  couple  of  miles  further  north  is  another  village 
of  the  old  town.  It  was  once  called  Orange,  but  now 
is  called  Highland  Mills.  The  water  of  Cromwell  Lake 
flows  through  this  part  of  the  valley.  Its  hydraulic 
power  early  marked  it  for  a  mill-seat.  A  grist-miU 
was  built  here  many  years  since,  owned  by  the  Town- 
send  family ;  also  a  tannery  which  bore  their  name, 
but  was  operated  for  many  years  by  Joshua  T.  Crom- 
well. The  late  WilHam  Vail  was  postmaster  many 
years ;  also  Morgan  Shuitt,  and  since  Peter  Lent.  A 
Friends'  meeting-house  was  early  built  in  the  vicinity ; 
also  a  Methodist  church.  The  fishing-line  factory  of 
Henry  Hall  &  Sons  was  removed  hither  from  Wood- 
bury. Hill  Crest  House,  with  its  cottages,  is  a  popular 
resort  of  city  people ;  also  the  Cromwell  Lake  House, 
kept  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
old  Protector,  a  favorite  retreat  of  the  lover  of  quiet 
and  rest. 


CHAPTER  XXXIY. 


LANDMAEKS   OF   MONEOE. 


AMONG  the  ancient  landmarks  of  the  old  town 
-  was  a  Balm  of  Gilead  tree,  which  stood  on  the 
farm  of  James  Smith.  It  has  this  bit  of  history :  it 
was  brought  as  a  riding- whip  by  a  young  lady  from 
Connecticut  some  sixty  years  ago,  and  was  planted 
by  her  upon  alighting  here.  It  was  recently  blown 
down  by  a  storm.  Many  of  two  generations  ago  sat 
in  its  shadow,  and  their  children  played  there. 

Man-of-War  Rock  is  always  associated  with  the  old 
town  of  Monroe.  It  is  a  great  mass  of  rock,  lying  in 
the  middle  of  the  old  Ramapo  turnpike,  about  three 
miles  from  Southfield.  It  is  not  a  boulder  technically 
so  called,  but  a  mass  torn  from  the  adjacent  moun- 
tain by  some  convulsion  of  nature  in  prehistoric  times. 
Its  outUne  somewhat  resembles  an  old-fashioned 
wooden  war-ship;  hence  its  name. 

The  famous  mule,  sheep  and  rabbit  tracks,  accord- 
ing to  Major  T.  B.  Brooks,  are  on  the  road  from 
Arden,  or  Greenwood,  to  Haverstraw,  and  near  the 
town  line.  They  consist  of  impressions  in  relief,  as 
if  made  by  the  animals  designated  by  the  name.  But 
the  antiquity  of  the  bed-rock  forbids  the  possibilit}^ 
of  the  existence  of  such  animals  at  the  period  when 
the  rocks  were  laid  down.     The  lining  of  the  tracks 

237 


238        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

with  iron  gives  probability  to  the  supposition  that 
they  have  been  nodules  of  bog-iron  ore  which  have 
formed  by  percolation,  while  fluid,  into  crevices  of  the 
older  rock.  Then  these  in  turn  have  been  dissolved 
out  by  exposure  to  the  weather,  while  the  harder 
rock  remains  intact.  A  square  block  of  stone  stands 
near  the  spot,  resting  upon  four  smaller  stones  resem- 
bling an  altar.  The  spot  was  visited  by  Major  Brooks 
and  Professor  Peter  Lesley,  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, several  years  since,  and  they  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  no  altar,  but  an  erratic  boulder 
resting  upon  stones  of  different  periods  accidentally 
placed.  This  scientific  investigation  explodes  the 
romantic  speculations,  if  not  superstitions,  which  have 
gathered  around  this  strange  phenomenon. 

Another  curiosity  of  the  old  town  is  the  Natural 
Bridge.  Ruttenber,  in  his  "  History  of  Orange 
County,"  describes  it  as  follows  :  "  The  waters  of 
Hound  Pond,  in  making  connection  with  Long  Pond, 
flow  under  a  natural  bridge,  the  breadth  of  which  is 
fifty  feet,  and  its  length  up  and  down  stream  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  feet.  It  is  used  as  a  bridge,  and  one 
may  ride  over  it  and  not  be  aware  of  it.  There  is  no 
daylight  under  it.  The  stream  on  the  upper  side 
passes  into  a  cave  and  is  lost  to  sight  until  it  emerges 
from  another  cave  on  the  other  side."  Wilhs  de- 
scribes it  as  "  a  massive  porch  covering  the  last  stair 
of  a  staircase  by  which  a  mountain  stream  descends 
into  a  mountain  lake."  It  differs  in  situation  only, 
however,  says  Ruttenber,  from  the  subterranean  pas- 
sage of  the  outlet  of  Washington  Lake.  There  is  no 
httle  obscurity  both  in  the  geography  and  the  rhetoric 
of  this  description,  but  the  mystery  is  cleared  up  by 
one  of  Monroe's   enterprising   sons,  Civil   Engineer 


Landmarks  of  Monroe.  239 

Frederick  J.  Knight,  who  writes :  "  I  have  been  at 
the  Natural  Bridge,  and  find  that  it  is  at  the  south 
end  of  Poplopens  Pond,  on  the  inlet,  not  the  outlet." 
And  this  is  the  bridge  that  Ruttenber  referred  to  and 
quoted  from  Willis.  There  is  no  natural  bridge  on 
the  stream  from  Round  to  Long  Pond,  as  mentioned 
by  Ruttenber.  The  bridge  is  about  seventy-five  feet 
long,  perhaps  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  above  the 
water,  and  has  a  large  cave  at  each  end,  daylight  not 
being  visible  through  it.  An  old  road  now  seldom 
used  passes  over  it. 

As  Monroe  is  the  lake  region  of  the  county,  we  can- 
not but  mention  its  beautiful  lakes  as  features,  if  not 
landmarks.  A  mile  and  a  half  brings  us  to  Round 
Pond  and  its  lovely  island.  Here  are  boats  and  bath- 
ing-houses, opportunities  for  fishing  and  rowing.  A 
few  rods  south  we  can  sail  upon  or  fish  in  Walton 
Lake.  Over  the  farms  further  south  we  look  upon 
the  lovely  surface  of  Mombasha.  Here  we  may  cross 
to  the  Lucky  Rocks  and  take  a  five-pound  bass  or  a 
twelve-pound  terrapin,  gather  pitcher-plant  from  one 
of  its  floating  islands,  or  enjoy  a  fish-fry  with  the 
Hain  Club.  We  order  our  buggy  and  drive  down  the 
new  boulevard  to  Tuxedo,  the  Loch  Katrine  of  this 
region.  Here  we  feast  our  eyes  on  club-house,  cot- 
tage and  lawn,  or  plunge  into  the  thicket  and  catch  a 
glimpse  of  deer,  a  covey  of  partridge,  or  even  hear  the 
challenge  of  a  wild  boar.  If  we  are  not  careful,  how- 
ever, and  venture  a  little  poaching,  we  will  have  the 
gamekeeper  down  upon  us,  and  we  have  to  read  Sir 
Walter  or  study  our  Shakspere  in  the  lockup.  Other 
lakes  are  not  far  away  :  Sterhng,  full  of  splendid  bass  ; 
Greenwood  Lake,  the  Windermere  of  old  Orange. 
How  often  we  have  dropped  a  hne  here  at  early  day! 


240        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

What  sails  and  picnics  we  have  had !  We  wonder  if 
these  lakes  will  not  some  day  produce  a  Wordsworth 
or  Rogers,  Scott  or  Coleridge. 

The  disciple  of  Izaak  Walton  kens  of  a  famous 
trout-brook,  mentioned  by  Clinton  in  the  Field  Book, 
running  through  Dutch  Hollow  and  past  the  door  of 
the  late  Charles  Fitzgerald,  Esq.,  who  welcomed  those 
who  knew  how  to  throw  the  fly  and  skilfully  take 
the  speckled  beauties  from  their  haunts.  Such  also 
knew  of  other  streams  in  the  mountains  where  the 
hermit-trout  dwell  and  will  rise  only  to  the  expert 
fisherman.  The  famous  Ramapo  has  many  a  riffle 
and  cascade  where  the  Indian  once  speared  the  sal- 
mon-trout. The  lover  of  nature  can  find  a  fine  cas- 
cade at  Augusta,  where  the  river  leaps  and  rushes 
down  a  steep  of  some  ninety  feet.  The  antiquary  as 
well  as  the  artist  also  can  find  a  striking  ruin  there  — 
the  archway  of  the  old  iron-works  and  anchory  of 
Townsend  &  Co.  There  are  many  famous  springs 
about  Monroe  that  gave  the  Clove  water  the  reputation 
of  making  its  lover  wish  no  other.  Pity  it  did  not  con- 
quer a  thnst  for  stronger  drinks  !  Chalybeate  springs 
abound  in  the  iron  region.  A  remarkably  cold  spring 
is  seen  on  the  J.  K.  Roe  place.  A  fine  spring  jets  from 
the  Cromwell  Lake,  which  has  been  inclosed  for  use  at 
the  hotel.  The  Seven  Springs  Mountain  House,  on 
the  crest  of  Schunemuuk,  boasts  of  as  many  hving 
springs  out  of  the  flinty  rock.  But  some  would  be 
disappointed  if  we  forgot  the  mill-pond  on  which  the 
village  stands.  It  has  been  the  scene  of  many  adven- 
tures, and  the  center  of  much  local  history.  Claudius 
Smith  probably  looked  upon  it.  Washington's  dra- 
goons gave  their  horses  drink  from  it.  One  of  the 
old  men  of  the  village  fell  in  while  getting  ice.     An- 


Landmarks  of  Monroe.  241 

other,  showing  how  he  did  it,  repeated  the  immersion. 
A  facetious  citizen  floated  a  decoy  duck  out  on  the 
water  and  di'ew  the  fire  of  the  sportsman.  It  was 
probably  the  1st  of  April.  Once  the  frogs  bred  in 
such  quantities  that  they  spread  over  the  whole  coun- 
try like  the  plague  in  Egypt.  Once  the  dam  gave 
way,  affording  the  boys  a  grand  fishing  hohday. 
What  a  carnival  the  ice  would  present  in  winter,  and 
what  pleasure  in  rowing  and  swimming  in  summer ! 
No  landmark  of  old  Monroe  is  as  dear  as  the  old  mill- 
pond.  One  of  the  clergy  gave  it  the  romantic  name 
of  "the  Turtle's  Dehght." 

It  may  interest  to  state  that  it  was  a  favorite  say- 
ing that  with  the  freezing  of  the  mill-pond  canal 
navigation  closed ;  with  the  freezing  of  Round  Pond 
the  North  River  froze  to  Newburg ;  but  not  till 
Long  Pond  froze  did  the  river  close  below  Newburg. 

"  As  the  mountains  were  round  about  Jerusalem," 
so  are  the  mountains  round  about  Monroe.  On  the 
east  are  the  Highlands,  like  the  mountains  of  Moab, 
seen  whenever  its  citizens  look  toward  sunrise.  Ten 
miles  of  rock  ridges,  with  many  a  peak,  defend  them 
on  that  side.  Only  one  or  two  passes  give  access  in 
that  dii'ection — one  over  Bull  Hill,  the  other  up  to  the 
Stockbridge  Hotel.  Either  of  these  could  easily  be 
defended  against  an  enemy.  On  the  south  are  For- 
shee  Hill  and  the  Southfield  Mountains.  On  the  west, 
the  Bel  vale  Mountains  and  Sugarloaf,  standing  like 
a  sentinel,  overlooking  the  valley  below.  Schune- 
munk  guards  the  northwest.  It  has  a  bastion  on  the 
eastern  corner.  High  Point  is  a  weather  signal-tower 
to  the  observing.  When  it  wears  its  night-cap  late 
in  the  morning,  it  indicates  falling  weather ;  when 
the  cap  is  early  doffed,  it  betokens  a  serene  day.  The 
31 


242        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

black  rocks  loom  up  from  the  mountain-top,  and  from 
their  summit  a  wonderful  scene  presents  itself.  The 
eye  sweeps  the  entire  horizon,  taking  in  the  Catskills, 
Butter  Hill,  the  Fishkill  Hills,  BuU  and  Pine  Hills, 
Mount  Bashan,  Sugarloaf,  Belvale  and  Groose  Pond 
Mountains,  with  lakes,  farms,  mines,  mills  and  vil- 
lages galore.  The  Devil's  Race-course  lies  on  the 
northern  slope  of  old  Schunemunk,  but  the  visitor 
needs  none  of  his  counsel  or  company,  for  he  who 
climbs  these  steeps  can  find  sweeter  communion 
nearer  to  the  heart  of  nature. 

One  other  landmark  is  Bald  Hill,  very  dear  to  us 
because  at  its  foot  we  first  hung  the  crane.  Here  we 
toiled  and  studied,  and  here  the  sunshine  fingers  in 
our  memory  longest  and  our  children  fell  asleep.  It 
is  the  Acropolis  of  the  village.  Here  the  Monroevian 
will  make  his  last  stand,  if  the  Spaniard  or  any  future 
foe  should  overrun  the  land.  From  a  little  pond  at 
its  base  the  bones  of  a  mastodon  were  recently  dug 
by  the  late  Martin  Konnight.  The  mammoth  was 
once  the  monarch  of  the  Ramapo,  and  probably  these 
old  hills  and  forests  echoed  with  his  roar.  But  he 
passed  away  like  his  successor,  the  Indian,  and  some 
day  some  strange  race  may  be  moralizing  over  the 
ruins  of  oui'  grandeur. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


EECENT   OCCUREENCES. 


SEVERAL  disastrous  fires  have  occurred  from  time 
to  time,  which  have  greatly  affected  both  the  ap- 
pearance, business  and  very  poUtical  status  of  the 
village  of  Monroe.  While  the  burning  of  the  shop  of 
John  Jenkins  led  to  the  erection  of  the  first  grout 
building,  and  the  burning  of  the  Boyce  shops  on  the 
night  of  December  31, 1875,  removed  unsightly  build- 
ings and  gave  the  Presbyterian  manse  a  new  barn, 
the  fire  that  occurred  on  the  night  of  November  2, 
1873,  led  to  still  more  important  results.  It  broke 
out  in  the  flour  and  feed  store  of  Carpenter  &  Webb, 
spreading  to  adjoining  buildings,  which  were  re- 
placed by  better.  On  this  occasion  word  was  sent  to 
the  fire  department  of  Groshen,  to  which  a  ready  re- 
sponse was  made  and  relief  sent. 

The  difficulty  in  procuring  water  from  wells  for 
such  an  emergency  opened  the  eyes  of  the  citizens  as 
to  the  need  of  a  better  water-supply.  Public  meet- 
ings were  held,  at  which  several  propositions  were 
made  and  discussed,  one  of  which  was  to  bring  the 
water  of  Round  Pond  into  the  village.  But  the  chief 
difficulty  was  that  such  a  measure  could  not  be  car- 
ried out  without  incorporating.  This  excited  strong 
opposition  on  the  part  of  larger  owners  of  real  estate, 
and  was  soon  abandoned. 

243 


244        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

On  the  night  of  March  17, 1895,  another  fire  started 
not  far  from  the  former,  and  hurned  its  way  north 
and  east  to  Lake  and  Main  streets,  consuming  the 
stores  of  Messrs.  Jacqmein,  Reed,  Bouton,and  WeUing, 
together  with  the  large  brick  double  store  of  the  late 
C.  B.  Knight.  This  was  built  in  1849,  and  had  just 
been  refitted  with  plate-glass  windows  and  other 
improvements.  Thus  this  whole  corner  was  swept 
away  except  the  frame  store  of  Mr.  Eugene  McGarrah. 

But  great  as  was  the  loss  of  property,  it  resulted  in 
the  public  good.  For  not  merely  were  handsome 
buildings  erected  in  their  place,  but  a  public  nuisance 
was  gotten  rid  of,  namely,  the  corner  sometimes 
called  Cape  Horn.  At  the  junction  of  Main  and 
Lake  streets  was  a  sloping  sidewalk  where  several 
accidents  occurred.  Here  the  wife  of  a  citizen  broke 
her  thigh.  One  of  the  clergy  was  passing  when 
it  was  slippery,  and  some  wag  exclaimed :  "  The 
wicked  stand  in  slippery  places."  He  quickly  re- 
sponded, "  Yes,  you  may ;  but  I  cannot."  Another  of 
the  cloth  was  passing  when  an  urchin  came  out  of 
the  brick  store  with  a  jug  of  molasses.  The  boy's 
feet  slipped,  and  the  jug  was  broken.  Between  the 
molasses  and  the  ice  the  dominie  caught  a  fall  that 
added  long-remembered  sweetness  to  his  cup. 

Then  the  public  road  encroached  on  the  prop- 
erty of  the  railroad,  and  when  the  corner  was  rebuilt 
the  company  required  the  owners  to  draw  the  side- 
walk many  feet  back,  giving  now  a  handsome  frontage 
to  the  new  stores. 

The  proposition  to  incorporate  the  village  now  be- 
gan in  earnest,  having  its  origin  in  the  necessity  to 
provide  better  means  to  fight  the  destructive  element 
fire.     Accordingly,  after  some  discussion  a  census  of 


Recent  Occurrences.  245 

the  population  was  taken,  and,  still  further,  a  survey 
of  territory  in  the  vicinage,  made  by  Engineer  Fred- 
erick J.  Knight.  A  population  of  781  was  found 
residing  on  the  area  contemplated.  This  was  in 
May,  1894. 

The  general  boundary  chosen  is  a  Hne  drawn  from 
the  farm  of  Gilbert  Smith  to  the  farm  of  Franklin 
Mapes,  thence  to  Seamanville,  including  the  old 
burying-ground,  the  Forshee  and  Wm.  Y.  Mapes 
farms,  and  around  the  John  Knight  farm  to  the  point 
of  beginning.  The  territory  is  one  mile  and  263 
thousandths  of  a  mile  square.  At  a  public  meeting 
held  July  31,  1894,  a  vote  was  taken,  and  111  were 
found  in  favor  and  45  opposed  to  the  measure.  Upon 
this  decision  the  necessary  steps  were  taken  towards 
incorporation. 

The  village  election  was  held  August  21,  1894. 
Henry  Mapes  was  chosen  President ;  J.  Lester  Greg- 
ory, Treasurer ;  Frank  Griffen,  Collector ;  Gilbert 
Carpenter,  Henry  Morehouse  and  George  R.  Conkhn, 
Trustees.  August  28,  1894,  the  trustees  organized  a 
Board  of  Water  Commissioners,  with  Gilbert  Carpen- 
ter, President;  G.  R.  Conklin,  Secretary;  Henry 
Mapes,  Treasurer;  Alexander  Potter,  of  New  York, 
Engineer-in-chief;  Frederick  J.  Knight,  of  Monroe, 
Assistant. 

Under  the  dii'ection  of  this  board,  the  water  of 
Mombasha  Lake  was  brought  to  supply  this  village. 

The  water-works  were  built,  and  the  water  was 
turned  into  the  main  October  10,  1895.  The  fall  is 
245  feet  at  the  railroad  station.  One  foot  in  Mom- 
basha gives  108,000,000  gallons.  Consumption  fii'st 
year,  17,000,000  gallons. 

The  following  hues  were  composed  by  the  Honor- 
31a 


246       Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

able  A.  B.  Hulse,  suggested  by  the  completion  of  the 
system  of  water- works  bringing  tlie  water  of  Mom- 
baslia  Lake  to  Monroe,  and  published  originally  in  the 
"Independent  Republican"  : 

All  hail,  all  hail,  this  glorious  day  ! 
Mombasha's  here,  she's  come  to  stay ; 
Beneath,  above,  around  Monroe 
Her  pure  and  crystal  waters  flow. 

Her  misty  sprays  and  dashing  streams 
Are  sparkling  in  the  bright  sunbeams, 
While  silently,  unseen,  below 
Her  mighty  currents  tlirob  and  flow. 

As  Moses  with  his  wondrous  rod 
Smote  Horeb's  rock  before  his  God, 
So  did  our  Village  Fathers  smite 
With  rods  of  steel  and  dynamite 
The  rocks  that  bound  Mombasha's  shores, 
And  brought  her  waters  to  our  doors. 

We'll  drink  none  but  thy  waters  pure, 
Then  longer  will  our  years  endure ; 
In  founts  drawn  from  thy  waters,  too. 
We'll  bathe,  and  thus  our  youth  renew. 

Our  lawns  no  longer  will  be  seen 
Dry,  crisped,  but  dressed  in  living  green. 
Like  gems  of  emerald  they'll  appear. 
And  beauty  fill  our  heart  with  cheer. 

The  fire-fiend,  most  dreaded  foe, 

Who,  when  least  looked  for,  strikes  his  blow. 

Is  ever  hanging  o'er  our  head  — 

A  constant  fear,  a  constant  dread. 

At  noon,  midday,  at  night's  dark  hour. 
Will  here  be  broken  in  his  power. 
He'll  have  to  beat  a  quick  retreat, 
And  lay  his  sceptre  at  her  feet. 


Recent  Occurrences.  247 

How  many,  many  blessings  more 
Mombasha  still  may  have  in  store, 
I  cannot  tell ;  I  only  know 
She'll  shower  them  all  upon  Monroe. 

Now  let  us  all  our  glasses  fill 

With  Basha's  water  with  right  good-will ; 

In  union  drink  with  one  accord 

The  good  health  of  our  Village  Board. 

We  know  the  path  you  had  to  tread. 
No  roses  lined  the  way  it  led ; 
But  toil,  anxiety  and  care 
In  measure  full  you  had  to  bear. 

Now,  here's  to  you  and  your  good  health ; 
May  you  be  blessed  with  more  than  wealth. 
Here's  to  the  triumphs  you  have  won. 
God  bless  you  all !     Well  done,  well  done  ! 

—  Homo. 

Mombasha  Lake  is  three  miles  from  Monroe  village 
and  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  feet  above  the  level 
where  the  Erie  Railroad  crosses  Main  street.  Its 
waters  are  extremely  pure  and  crystal-like,  and  con- 
tain the  slightest  trace  of  iron, — not  enough  to  affect 
the  taste,  but  just  enough  to  render  them  wholesome 
and  health-giving. 

The  village  election  of  March,  1898,  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  Ananias  B.  Hulse,  President ;  Theodore 
Clark  and  Sanford  S.  Lewis,  Trustees ;  Henry  Mapes, 
Treasurer;  Ezra  Welling,  Collector;  Edward  H. 
Seaman,  Police  Justice. 

By  ordinance  the  names  of  the  streets  of  the  vil- 
lage have  been  changed  and  finally  fixed.  Among 
them  are  such  historic  ones  as  Ramapo  and  Schune- 
munk.  But  the  climax  was  reached  when  one  on 
the  outskirts  was  called  Freeland  street, — for  what 


248        Chronicles  of  Monroe  in  the  Olden  Time. 

reason  we  cannot  divine,  except  that  fifty  years  ago 
it  was  full  of  snow-banks  and  "  thank-'e-ma'ams,"  and, 
like  its  namesake,  there  was  room  for  improvement. 
For  time,  that  stern  old  conjurer  that  wrinkles  and 
fmTows  our  faces,  ofttimes  takes  the  kinks  out  of 
roads,  adorns  the  face  of  nature  with  vines  and 
mosses,  and  has  even  made  the  Rotten  Row  of  the 
city  of  London  into  the  abode  of  aristocracy. 

And  now,  as  our  task  draws  toward  a  conclusion, 
we  may  say  it  has  been  a  pleasant  one,  truly  a  labor 
of  love.  While  it  has  been  a  symposium,  with  the 
company  of  those  who  have  gone  before  and  left  their 
footsteps  on  the  sands  of  time,  we  have  had  before 
us  the  present  generation,  especially  the  youth  of 
Monroe ;  seeking  to  impress  upon  them  the  lessons 
which  the  noble  history  of  their  town,  the  folk-lore, 
and  the  natural  advantages  of  its  situation  have  for 
them.  If  they  will  look  out  on  the  superb  mountain- 
girt  plain,  what  a  field  there  is  for  growth!  But  let 
them  eliminate  from  it  everything  that  would  put 
the  bar  sinister  upon  its  fair  escutcheon.  While 
loving  their  native  hills  with  all  a  Switzer's  patriotism, 
let  them  climb  to  the  mountain-tops  and  look  to  the 
wide,  wide  world  beyond,  and  help  with  honest  toil 
to  solve  some  of  its  great  problems  of  labor,  liberty 
and  fraternity.  What  the  age  wants  are  men  of  in- 
tegrity, administering  every  trust  conscientiously, 
"  faithful  in  little,  faithful  in  much."  Pursuing  the 
good  of  man  and  the  glory  of  God,  we  bid  adieu  to 
our  readers  with  a  few  lines  found  in  our  portfolio  : 

Where  the  Highlands  plant  their  feet, 

On  the  clover  plains  below, 
Nestles  a  hamlet  neat  — 

The  village  of  Monroe. 


Recent  Occurrences.  249 

What  time  the  sunlight  gleams 

On  silvery  Ramapo 
Reflected  in  her  streams 

Is  picturesque  Monroe. 

Beside  the  long-drawn  street 

The  graceful  maples  grow, 
And  lights  and  shadows  meet 

On  our  pathway  in  Monroe. 

The  anvil  doth  resound  ; 

The  mill-wheel  echoes  low; 
And  wheels  of  industry  spin  round 

In  wide-awake  Monroe. 

By  academic  walks 

The  children  come  and  go ; 
By  fireside  list  the  talks 

Of  old  folks  in  Monroe. 

Her  church  bells  sound  the  lay, 

That  young  and  old  may  know 
The  life,  the  truth,  the  way 

To  the  hills  beyond  Monroe. 

On  her  with  lavish  hand 

May  Heaven  brave  gifts  bestow, 
And  choicest  benison  command 

On  the  good  folks  of  Monroe  ! 
—  Nil. 


'!l  I    ij  M 


